CATHOLIC:  CHURCH  JN 
CHICAGO 

1673   -   1871 

CILBF.RT  J.  G.VKU  \C,HAN,  S.  J. 


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OF  ILLINOIS 

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THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 
IN   CHICAGO 

1673  -  1871 


AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

By 
Gilbert  J.  Garrl^attSSAJr   fr    ft 


OF 


LOYOLA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 

1921 


COPYRIGHT,  1921 

BY 

LOYOLA   UNIVERSITY 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


Most  Reverend  George  W.  Mundelein,  D.D. 


Archbishop  of  Chicago 


r 


709522 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Page 

I.  EARLY  MISSIONARY  VISITORS 1 

II.  THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.  CYR,  1833-1834        -  45 

III.  BISHOP  BRUT£  AND  THE  MISSION  OF  CHICAGO  71 

IV.  THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.  CYR,  1834-1837        -  82 
V.  BISHOP  QUARTER 108 

VI.  BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE 137 

VII.  BISHOP  O 'BEGAN 167 

VIII.  BISHOP  DTJGGAN 180 

IX.  BISHOP  FOLEY  AND  THE  FlRE  OF  1871         ...  219 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 

Jacques  Marquette,  S.  J 1 

Marquette  at  the  Chicago  Portage 5 

Marquette 's  Journal  9 

Montigny's  Chicago  Letter,  1699 18  and  19 

Father  Gabriel  Richard 29 

Father  Stephen  T.  Badin 35 

Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien 37 

Father  John  Mary  Irenaeus  St.  Cyr 45 

Petition  of  the  Catholics  of  Chicago,  1833 46 

Et.  Eev.  Joseph  Eosati,  D.  D 48 

Father  St.  Cyr  to  Bishop  Eosati 51 

Eecord  of  Baptism  of  George  Beaubien 54 

Eecord  of  Baptism  of  Eobert  Jerome  Beaubien 56 

Mark  Beaubien    58 

Anson  H.  Taylor 60 

Augustine  Deodat   Taylor , 65 

Et.  Eev.  Simon  William  Gabriel  Brute,  D.  D 71 

The  Diocese  of  Vincennes,  1835 73 

Bishop  Flaget  's  Appeal  for  Chicago 79 

The  First  Saint  Mary's  Church 82 

Et.  Eev.  Maurice  de  St.  Palais,  D.  D 106 


Et.  Rev.  William  J.  Quarter,  D.  D 108 

Saint    Mary's    Cathedral 110 

Bishop  Quarter  to  Bishop  Purcell,  1844 112 

University  of  Saint  Mary  of  the  Lake 115 

Letter  of  Father  Stephen  T.  Badin 120 

The  Eosarist  's  Companion 129 

Et.  Eev.  James  Oliver  Van  de  Velde,  D.  D 137 

Et.   Eev.  Anthony  O'Eegan,   D.  D 167 

Church  of  the  Holy  Family 177 

Et.  Eev.  James  Duggan,  D.  D 180 

Et.  Eev.  Thomas  Foley,  D.  D 219 


INTRODUCTION 


The  present  year,  1921,  is  the  fiftieth  since  Chicago 
was  laid  waste  by  a  conflagration  which  has  passed  into 
history  as  the  extreme  instance  of  public  calamities  of 
the  kind.  The  amazing  swiftness  with  which  the  city 
retrieved  its  losses  and  stood  erect  on  its  feet  again  has 
almost  made  us  forget  what  a  calamity  it  was.  And  yet, 
though  to  the  Chicagoans  who  followed  with  bated 
breath  its  remorseless  trail  of  destruction  it  seemed  a 
catastrophe  tremendous  beyond  words,  the  Fire  of  1871 
is  now  recognized,  not  paradoxically,  to  have  been  a 
thing  that  accelerated,  though  it  checked  for  a  time, 
the  victorious  advance  of  the  City  of  the  Lakes.  But 
calamity  or  blessing,  the  event  was  and  always  will 
remain  epochal  in  the  history  of  the  municipality.  A 
line  of  cleavage  was  then  and  there  set  up  between  the 
Chicago  that  was  and  the  Chicago  that  was  to  be.  Pre- 
Fire  Chicago  is  an  outstanding  historical  unit,  with 
color,  atmosphere  and  individuating  lines  quite  its  own. 
Even  so,  in  the  story  of  Catholic  origins  and  growth  in 
Chicago  a  line  of  demarcation  is  drawn  across  the  record 
by  the  event  of  1871.  The  incidents  prior  to  it  fill  out 
and  circumscribe  the  pioneer  period  of  that  fascinating 
story  and  as  such  may  be  dealt  with  by  the  historian 
as  a  unified  whole.  It  is  this  conception  which  has  led 
the  author  to  limit  his  sketch  by  the  Fire  of  1871,  for 
he  finds  in  that  obvious  turning-point  of  local  history 
the  logical  end  of  a  narrative  which  purposes  to  re- 
count the  beginnings  only  and  not  the  mature  develop- 
ment of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago. 

IX 


X  INTRODUCTION 

Within  the  compass  of  this  brief  sketch  will  be 
found  compressed,  it  is  believed,  all  the  essential  facts 
of  Chicago  Catholic  history  between  the  limits  named. 
Where  possible,  recourse  has  been  had  to  primary  sources 
of  information.  In  particular,  the  Archdiocesan  Ar- 
chives of  Saint  Louis,  the  Archives  of  Saint  Louis  Uni- 
versity, and  the  Catholic  Archives  of  America  at  Notre 
Dame  University,  have  been  drawn  upon  for  pertinent 
material  of  value.  Where  the  author  has  had  to  lean 
largely  on  secondary  authorities  as  in  Chapter  VIII,  he 
has  felt  less  secure.  The  scale  of  treatment  as  regards 
the  various  topics  varies  according  to  the  shifting  meas- 
ure of  available  material.  Thus,  the  pastorate  of  Father 
St.  Cyr,  our  knowledge  of  which  has  been  so  much  en- 
larged through  his  correspondence  with  Bishop  Rosati 
but  recently  brought  to  light,  is  treated  in  detail.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  meagreness  of  the  data  available  in 
regard  to  Bishop  0 'Regan's  episcopate  has  led  the 
author  to  eke  out  this  section  of  the  narrative  by  a 
rather  particularized  account  of  the  beginnings  of  the 
Hol*r  Family  parish,  concerning  which  much  first-hand 
material  of  interest  happened  to  be  within  reach. 

Chapters  I,  II  and  IV,  and  the  greater  part  of 
Chapter  VII  have  appeared  in  the  Illinois  Catholic  His- 
torical Review,  July,  October,  1918  and  April,  1919, 
while  Chapter  III  has  been  published  in  the  Saint  Louis 
Catholic  Historical  Review,  October,  1919.  To  the  editors 
of  these  magazines  the  author  makes  grateful  acknowl- 
edgment for  the  privilege  of  reproduction. 

St.  Louis  University, 
August  14,  1921. 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

'SHYER::?;  c?  SLLI^IS 


James  Marquette,  missionary-explorer  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  Photograph  from  the  heroic-sized  statue  by  the  Florentine 
sculptor,  Signer  Gaetano  Trentanove,  which  represents  Wisconsin 
in  Statuary  Hall,  the  Capitol,  Washington,  being  the  State's 
tribute  to  the  man  who  with  Louis  Joliet  discovered  the  Missis- 
sippi at  the  junction  of  the  great  waterway  with  the  Wisconsin 
near  Prairie  du  Chien,  June  17,  1673. 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN 
CHICAGO 


CHAPTER  I 


EARLY  MISSIONARY  VISITORS 

No  other  city  of  the  Middle  West  traces  its  histor- 
ical beginnings  more  remotely  into  the  past  than  does 
Chicago.  Its  civic  organization  dates  indeed  only  from 
the  third  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century;  but  long 
before  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  locality 
that  was  to  see  its  growth  had  found  a  place  in  the 
permanent  record  of  the  times.  As  early  as  1688  the 
name  of  the  city  had  been  written  into  the  geography 
of  the  day,  Pranquelin's  famous  map  of  that  year 
showing  "Fort  Chicagou"  on  the  site  of  the  future 
metropolis;  and  this,  thirteen  years  before  Cadillac 
founded  Detroit,  seventy-six  before  Laclede  set  up  his 
trading-post  in  St.  Louis  and  a  hundred  before  Denham 
and  Patterson  platted  the  village  that  was  to  develop 
into  Cincinnati.  The  distinction  that  attaches  to  re- 
moteness of  origin  is  not  to  be  denied  to  the  great 
metropolis  of  the  Middle  West. 

To  pick  up,  then,  the  first  threads  in  the  religious 

history  of  Chicago,  one  must,  as  when  he  seeks  to  trace 

i 


2  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

its  secular  origins,  grope  in  a  distant  and  shadowy  past. 
In  particular,  the  story  of  Catholicism  in  the  metropolis 
carries  us  back  for  its  opening  pages  to  the  first 
emergence  of  the  locality  into  the  light  of  history.  As 
it  happened,  all  the  early  white  visitors  to  the  site  of 
Chicago  were  of  the  Catholic  faith ;  and  with  their  com- 
ing were  forged,  it  may  be  said,  the  first  links  of  associa- 
tion between  the  Catholic  church  and  the  future  city. 
One  may  not  determine  at  this  late  date  who  of  wjiite 
men  were  the  first  to  arrive  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago 
River.  True,  the  distinction  has  been  claimed  for  that 
picturesque  figure  on  the  stage  of  early  Western  history, 
Eobert  Cavelier  Sieur  de  La  Salle;  but  no  evidence 
sufficient  to  establish  his  supposed  visit  of  1671  on 
anything  even  like  an  historical  basis  has  ever  been 
adA^anced.  Not  the  empire-builder,  but  an  humble 
soldier  of  the  cross  is  the  first  figure  that  we  are  able 
to  recognize  with  anything  like  certainty  through  the 
mists  that  hang  over  the  day-break  of  Chicago  history.1 
Two  years  after  the  alleged  visit  of  La  Salle  to  the 
marshy  prairie-land  that  has  since  become  Chicago,  the 
missionary-explorer  Father  James  Marquette  arrived 
on  the  scene.  On  June  17,  1673,  Marquette  and  Joliet 
discovered  the  Mississippi  at  its  junction  with  the  Wis- 
consin. The  two  then  descended  the  great  waterway  as 
lar  as  the  Arkansas,  whence,  after  a  brief  stay,  they 


1 "  It  is  claimed  that  he  [La  Salle]  discovered  the  Illinois 
River  also  and  was  the  first  of  white  men  to  visit  the  place  where 
Chicago  now  stands — but  the  evidence  does  not  warrant  the  as- 
sumption." E.  G.  MASON,  Chapters  from  Illinois  History,  Chi- 
cago, 1901,  p.  46.  La  Salle 's  alleged  visit  of  1671  to  Illinois 
appears  to  have  been  a  fiction  invented  by  his  friends.  See 
ALVOKD,  The  Illinois  Country,  1920,  p.  78. 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  6 

started  on  their  homeward  journey.  With  their  canoes 
directed  up  the  Mississippi  they  proceeded  as  far  as 
the  Illinois,  into  which  they  turned.  At  the  village  of 
the  Kaskaskia  Indians  situated  on  the  Illinois  at  a  place 
not  yet  definitively  identified,  Marquette  set  foot  for 
the  first  time,  as  far  as  we  have  record,  on  the  soil  of 
the  future  commonwealth  of  Illinois.  Finding  the 
Indians  in  a  receptive  mood,  he  promised  to  return  at 
the  first  opportunity  and  plant  a  mission  in  their  midst. 
Then,  resuming  their  journey,  Marquette  and  Joliet 
continued  to  ascend  the  Illinois  until  they  reached  the 
Desplaines,  which  they  entered,  portaging  thence  to  the 
Chicago  River  and  so  reaching  Lake  Michigan  over  the 
blue  waters  of  which  they  voyaged  to  Green  Bay. 

Marquette  redeemed  his  pledge  to  evangelize  the  Marquette 
Kaskaskia.  Leaving  the  Mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  at  Ghicago, 
on  October  25,  1674,  with  the  village  of  the  Kaskaskia  1674'1675 
for  his  objective,  he  journeyed  partly  by  land,  partly 
by  water,  along  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  in 
company  with  two  French  voyageurs,  Pierre  Porteret 
and  Jacques  Le  Castor.  He  arrived  December  4  at 
.the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  broken  in  health  and 
unable  to  proceed  to  his  journey's  end.  After  a  stay 
here  of  some  days,  his  companions  built  for  him  a  rude 
shelter  on  the  west  fork  of  the  south  branch  of  the 
Chicago  River,  at  a  distance  of  about  five  miles  (two 
leagues)  from  its  outlet  into  Lake  Michigan.  Here 
Marquette  lived  from  December  14,  1674  to  March  30, 
1675,  busying  himself  with  his  devotions  and  with  the 
composition  of  memoirs  of  his  journeys,  while  his  com- 
panions hunted  turkey,  deer  and  buffalo  on  ground  now 
covered  by  the  world's  fourth  largest  center  of  popula- 


4  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

tion.2   In  the  Journal  which  the  missionary  composed  in 
part  while  he  was  thus  confined  during  the  long  winter 


- ' '  Thus  began  in  December,  1674,  the  first  extended  sojourn, 
as  far  as  we  have  record,  of  white  men  on  the  site  of  the  future 
Chicago."  QUAIFE,  Chicago  and  the  Old  Northwest,  1673-1835, 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  1913,  p.  24.  "Thus  it  came  about 
that  our  first  account  of  life  at  Chicago  pictures  the  doings  of  a 
lonely  priest  passing  the  dreary  winter  in  a  rude  hut,  animated 
by  a  fiery  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  the  savages  he  was  seeking, 
the  while  his  physical  frame  was  shaken  with  the  pangs  of  a 
mortal  disease.  If  plain  living  and  high  thinking  be  the  ideal 
life,  no  locality  ever  launched  its  recorded  career  more  auspiciously 
than  did  Chicago  in  the  winter  of  1674-1675."  QUAIFE,  The  De- 
velopment of  Chicago,  1674-1914,  (The  Caxton  Club,  Chicago, 
1916). 

Various  sites  have  been  suggested  for  Marquette's  winter- 
quarters  at  Chicago.  According  to  Carl  Ilg  (ATKINSON,  The  Story 
of  Chicago  and  National  Development,  pp.  8-11),  he  wintered  on  a 
hillock  on  the  right  bank  of  the  south  fork  of  the  south  branch 
of  the  Chicago  Eiver,  at  what  is  now  the  east  end  of  the  Thirty- 
fifth  Street  Bridge.  Another  location,  at  the  foot  of  Robey  Street, 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  west  fork  of  the  south  branch  of  the 
Chicago  River,  was  marked  in  1907  by  a  cross  of  mahogany 
bearing  the  following  inscription: 

IN  MEMORY  OF  FATHER  MARQUETTE,  S.  J.,  AND 
LOUIS  JOLIET  OF  NEW  FRANCE  (CANADA)  FIRST 
WHITE  EXPLORERS  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  AND  ILLINOIS 
RIVERS  AND  LAKE  MICHIGAN,  1673,  NAVIGATING  2,500 
MILES  IN  CANOES  IN  120  DAYS.  IN  CROSSING  THE 
SITE  OF  CHICAGO,  JOLIET  RECOMMENDED  IT  FOR  ITS 
NATURAL  ADVANTAGES  AS  A  PLACE  OF  FIRST  SET- 
TLEMENT AND  SUGGESTED  A  LAKE-TO-THE-GULF 
WATERWAY,  (See  "Jesuit  Relations,"  Vol.  58,  p.  105)  BY 
CUTTING  A  CANAL  THROUGH  THE  "PORTAGE"  WEST 
OF  HERE  WHERE  BEGINS  THE  CHICAGO  DRAINAGE- 
SHIP  CANAL.  WORK  ON  THIS  CANAL  WAS  BEGUN 
SEPT.  3,  1892,  AND  IT  RECEIVED  THE  FIRST  WATERS 


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EARLY    MISSIONARY   VISITORS 


days  in  his  cabin  on  the  bleak  prairie,  occur  the  follow- 
ing paragraphs,  memorable  as  the  record,  in  his  own 


OF  LAKE  MICHIGAN,  JAN.  2,  1902.  THIS  REMAEKABLE 
PROPHECY  MADE  234  YEARS  AGO  IS  NOW  BEING  FUL- 
FILLED. THE  END  OF  ROBEY  STREET  IS  THE  HIS- 
TORIC "HIGH  GROUND"  WHERE  MARQUETTE  SPENT 
THE  WINTER  1674-1675.  "TO  DO  AND  SUFFER 
EVERYTHING  FOR  SO  GLORIOUS  AN  UNDERTAKING." 
Marquette's  Journal.  ERECTED  SATURDAY,  SEPT.  28,  1907, 
BY  THE  CITY  OF  CHICAGO  AND  CHICAGO  ASSOCIATION 
OF  COMMERCE. 

This  Marquette  memorial  cross  was  maliciously  destroyed  a 
few  years  ago,  but  has  since  been  replaced  by  a  new  one,  erected 
by  the  Willey  Lumber  Company. 

John  Huston  Finlay,  the  educator,  pictures  thus  a  visit  which 
he  paid  to  this  Marquette  cross. 

"In  the  dusk  of  an  autumn  day,  I  went  out  to  find  the 
place  where  the  novena  had  worked  the  miracle  of  his  healing. 
As  I  have  already  intimated,  few  of  all  the  hundred  thousands 
there  in  that  great  city  have  had  any  consciousness  of  the  back- 
ground of  French  heroism  and  suffering  and  prevision  in  front 
of  which  they  were  passing  daily,  but  I  found  that  the  policeman 
and  watchman  on  the  railroad  near  the  ruins  knew  at  least  of 
the  great  black  cross  which  stands  by  that  drab  and  sluggish 
water,  placed  there  in  memory  of  Marquette  and  Joliet. 

' '  The  bit  of  high  ground  where  the  hut  stood  is  now  sur- 
rounded by  great  looming  sheds  and  factories  which  were  entirely 
tenantless  when  I  found  my  way  through  a  long  unlighted  and 
unpaved  street  in  the  direction  of  the  river.  The  cross  stood, 
in  a  little  patch  of  white,  black  as  the  father's  cowl  [sic]  against 
the  night  with  its  crescent  moon.  I  could  not  make  out  the 
inscription  on  the  river-side  of  the  monument,  and,  seeing  a 
signal  lantern  tied  to  a  scow  moored  to  the  bank  near  by,  I 
untied  it  and  by  its  light  was  able  to  read  the  tribute  of  the 
city  to  the  memory  of  the  priest  and  explorer  who  first  of  white 
men  had  passed  that  way  having  travelled,  as  it  recites,  'two 
thousand,  five  hundred  miles  in  canoes  in  one  hundred  and  twenty 
days.'  The  bronze  plate  bears  a  special  tribute  to  the  foresight 


6  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

words,  of  the  first  extended  sojourn  of  a  Catholic  priest 
on  the  site  of  Chicago. 

"Having  camped  near  the  portage,  two  leagues  up  the 
river,  we  resolved  to  winter  there,  as  it  was  impossible  to 
go  further,  since  we  were  too  much  hindered  and  my  ailment 
did  not  permit  me  to  give  myself  much  fatigue.  Several 
Ilinois  passed  yesterday  on  their  way  to  carry  their  furs  to 
nawaskingwe.  We  gave  them  one  of  the  cattle  and  one  of 
the  deer  that  Jacque  had  killed  on  the  previous  day.  I  do  not 
think  that  I  have  ever  seen  any  savages  more  eager  for 
French  tobacco  than  they  .  They  came  and  threw  beaver  skins 
at  our  feet,  to  get  some  pieces  of  it;  but  we  returned  them, 
giving  them  some  pipefuls  of  the  tobacco,  because  we  had  not 
yet  decided  whether  we  would  go  farther. 

Chachagwessiou  and  the  other  Ilinois  left  us,  to  go  and 
join  their  people  and  give  them  the  goods  that  they  had 
bought,  in  order  to  obtain  their  robes.  In  this  they  act  like 
the  traders,  and  give  hardly  any  more  than  do  the  French. 
I  instructed  them  before  their  departure,  deferring  the  holding 
of  a  council  until  this  spring,  when  I  should  be  in  their 
village.  They  traded  us  three  fine  robes  of  ox-skins  for  a 
cubit  of  tobacco;  these  were  very  useful  to  us  during  the 


of  Joliet,  but  it  commemorates  first  of  all  the  frail  body  and 
valorous  soul  of  Father  Marquette,  the  first  European  within 
the  bounds  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  I  wish  there  might  be 
written  on  maps,  in  that  space  that  is  shown  between  the 
Chicago  and  the  Desplaines,  or  the  'Divine  River'  as  it  was 
sometimes  called,  the  words  'Portage  St.  Jacques.'  That  were 
a  fitter  canonization  than  to  put  his  name  among  the  names  of 
cities,  steamboats  on  the  lake  or  tobaccos,  as  is  our  custom  in 
America. 

' '  The  crescent  moon  dropped  behind  the  shadows  that  now 
line  the  portage  'like  a  somber  forest,'  but  it  is  only  a  few  steps 
through  the  darkness  back  into  the  light  and  noise  of  the  city 
of  more  than  two  million  people."  FINLAY,  The  French  in  the 
Heart  of  America,  p.  258. 


EARLY    MISSIONARY   VISITORS  7 

winter.    Being  thus  rid   of  them  we   said   the   Mass  of  the 

Conception.    After  the  14th  my  disease  turned  into  a  bloody 
flux. 


Since  we  addressed  ourselves  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Im- 
maculate and  commenced  a  novena  with  a  Mass  —  at  which 
Pierre  and  Jacque,  who  do  everything  they  can  to  relieve  me, 
received  Communion,  —  to  ask  God  to  restore  my  health  —  my 
bloody  flux  has  left  me,  and  all  that  remains  is  a  weakness 
of  the  stomach.  I  am  beginning  to  feel  much  better  and  to 
regain  my  health. 


The  North  wind  delayed  the  thaw  until  the  25th  of  March, 
when  it  set  in  with  a  South  wind.  On  the  very  next  day, 
game  began  to  make  its  appearance.  We  killed  30  pigeons, 
which  I  found  better  than  those  down  the  great  river;  but 
they  are  smaller,  both  old  and  young.  On  the  28th,  the  ice 
broke  up,  and  stopped  above  us.  On  the  29th,  the  waters 
rose  so  high  that  we  had  barely  time  to  decamp  as  fast  as 
possible,  putting  our  goods  in  the  trees,  and  trying  to  sleep 
in  a  hillock.  The  water  gained  on  us  nearly  all  night,  but 
there  was  a  slight  freeze  and  the  water  fell  a  little,  while 
we  were  near  our  packages.  The  barrier  has  just  broken,  the 
ice  has  drifted  away:  and,  because  the  water  is  already  rising, 
we  are  about  to  embark  to  continue  our  journey. 

The  Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate  has  taken  such  care  of 
us  during  our  wintering  that  we  have  not  lacked  provisions 
and  have  still  remaining  a  large  sack  of  corn  with  some  meat 
and  fat.  We  also  lived  very  pleasantly,  for  my  illness  did  not 
prevent  me  from  saying  holy  Mass  every  day.  We  were  un- 
able to  keep  Lent,  except  Fridays  and  Saturdays. 

We  started  yesterday  and  traveled  three  leagues  up  the 
river  without  finding  any  portage.3" 


3  Jesuit  Relations,  (Thwaites  ed.  59:  173-181).  "There  is  no 
monument  of  him  [Marquette]  so  interesting  and  pathetic  as 
his  unfinished  letter  during  his  last  visit  to  the  land  of  Illinois.  . .  . 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Another  account  of  Father  Marquette's  residence  on 
the  banks  of  the  Chicago  River  in  the  winter  of  1674-75 
is  to  be  found  in  a  contemporary  narrative  by  the  mis- 
sionary's Superior,  Father  Claude  Dablon. 

"He  set  out  for  this  purpose  in  the  month  of  November, 
1674,  from  the  Bay  of  the  Fetid  [Green  Bay]  with  two  men, 
one  of  whom  had  already  made  that  voyage  with  him.  During 
a  month's  navigation  on  the  Ilinois  lake  [Lake  Michigan], 
he  was  pretty  well :  but  as  soon  as  the  snow  began  to  fall, 
he  was  again  seized  with  the  dysentery,  which  forced  him  to 
stop  in  the  river  which  leads  to  the  Ilinois.  Then  they  raised 
a  cabin  and  spent  the  winter,  in  such  want  of  every  comfort 
that  his  illness  constantly  increased;  he  felt  that  God  had 
granted  him  the  grace  that  he  had  so  often  asked,  and  he  even 
plainly  told  his  companions  so,  assuring  them  that  he  would 
die  of  that  illness,  and  on  that  voyage.  To  prepare  his  soul 
for  its  departure,  he  began  that  rude  wintering  by  the  exercises 
of  St.  Ignatius,  which,  in  spite  of  his  great  bodily  weakness, 
he  performed  with  deep  sentiments  of  devotion  and  great 
heavenh"  consolation;  and  then  spent  the  rest  of  his  time  in 
colloquies  with  all  heaven,  having  no  more  intercourse  with 


The  larger  portion  of  it  was  written  in  Marquette's  winter  camp 
at  the  bleak  portage  within  the  limits  of  Chicago.  It  would  be 
very  fitting  should  it  find  its  final  abiding  place  in  the  city  of 
whose  early  history  it  is  a  priceless  and  unique  memorial." 
MASON,  op.  cit.,  p.  35.  That  Marquette  while  wintering  on  the 
Chicago  River  occupied  himself  in  writing  memoirs  of  his  voyages 
is  stated  in  a  contemporary  letter  (dated  Oct.  10,  1675)  from  the 
Jesuit  Cholenec  published  in  Eochemonteix,  Les  Jesuites  de  la 
Nouvelle  France  Au  XVII  Siecle,  3:  606.  For  the  argument 
that  Marquette  wintered  on  the  Calumet  and  not  on  the  Chicago 
Eiver,  see  WILLIAM  HENRY  LEE,  The  Calumet  Portage,  in  Transac- 
tions of  the  Illinois  Historical  Society,  1912 ;  also  ANDREAS,  His- 
tory of  Chicago,  1:46.  That  Marquette  used  the  Chicago  Eiver 
portage  on  his  return  journey  with  Joliet  from  the  Mississippi  is 
indicated  in  his  Journal,  Jesuit  Relations,  59:  181. 


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The  third  page  of  Marquette  's  autograph  Journal  now  resting 
in  the  Archives  of  Saint  Mary's  College,  Montreal.  The  mission- 
ary's own  account  of  his  historic  wintering  of  1674-1675  on  the 
site  of  Chicago,  the  inaugural  episode  in  the  life-story  of  the 
metropolis.  It  appears  to  be  all  but  certain  that  the  portion  of 
the  Journal  reproduced  above  was  composed  amid  the  incidents  it 
records,  and  may  thus  lay  claim  to  the  distinction  of  being  the 
earliest  written  document  ever  put  together  within  the  limits  of 
Chicago.  (Rochemonteix,  S.  J.,  Les  Jesuites  de  la  Nouvelle  France 
Au  XVII  Siecle,  3:606).  Courtesy  of  Burrows  Brothers,  Cleve- 
land. 


EARLY    MISSIONARY   VISITORS 

earth,  amid  these  deserts,  except  with  his  two  companions 
whom  he  confessed  and  communicated  twice  a  week,  and 
exhorted  as  much  as  his  strength  allowed.  Some  time  after 
Christmas,  in  order  to  obtain  the  grace  not  to  die  without 
having  taken  possession  of  his  beloved  mission,  he  invited 
his  companions  to  make  a  novena  in  honor  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Contrary  to  all  human 
expectations  he  was  heard,  and  recovering,  found  himself  able 
to  proceed  to  the  Illinois  town  as  soon  as  navigation  was  free; 
this  he  accomplished  in  great  joy,  setting  out  on  the  29th 
of  March.4  " 

The  accounts  just  cited,  virtually  contemporaneous 
with  the  incidents  recorded,  are  documents  of  priceless 
value  to  the  historian,  supplying  as  they  do  the  very 
first  pages  in  the  religious  history  of  Chicago.  The 
spiritual  functions  discharged  by  Father  Marquette 
during  the  winter  of  1674-1675  are  the  earliest  recorded 
ministrations  of  a  clergyman  within  the  limits  of  the 
future  metropolis.  Thus,  he  said  the  first  Mass  on  the 
site  of  Chicago,  that  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  on 
or  within  a  day  or  two  of  the  octave  of  the  feast,  De- 
cember 15,.  1674.  Moreover,  he  was  the  first  priest 
known  to  have  heard  confessions,  administered  the 
Eucharist  and  imparted  religious  instruction  in  that 
locality.  We  are  within  the  limits  of  sober  fact  when 
we  affirm  that  in  the  little  cabin  by  the  river-bank  in 
which  he  discharged  these  acts  of  the  ministry  on  behalf 
of  his  faithful  attendants,  Pierre  Porteret  and  Jacques 
Le  Castor,  the  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago  first  saw 
the  light  of  day. 


4  SHEA,  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
p.  54.  The  text  of  Marquette 's  Journal  seems  to  make  it  clear 
that  he  resumed  his  journey  towards  the  Kaskaskia  on  March  30. 


10  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

On  March  30,  1675,  Marquette  bade  good-bye  to  his 
winter-quarters  on  the  Chicago  River  and  resumed  his 
journey  to  the  Kaskaskia  village.  Here,  despite  his 
failing  strength,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Mission 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  destined  to  stand  out 
in  history  as  the  spot  where  civilization  and  Christianity 
made  their  first  rude  beginnings  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  Then,  his  life-work  accomplished,  he  set  his  face 
once  more  towards  the  region  of  the  Upper  Lakes.  With 
his  life  fast  ebbing  away,  he  toiled  along  the  familiar 
route  by  the  Illinois,  Desplaines  and  Chicago  rivers  to 
Lake  Michigan.  Then,  skirting  the  foot  of  the  Lake,  he 
made  his  way  painfully  up  its  east  shore  to  a  point  near 
the  present  Ludington,  Michigan,  where  on  May  18, 
1675,  he  died  among  his  faithful  Indian  attendants, 
leaving  behind  him  the  aroma  of  a  singularly  blameless 
life  and  a  record  of  achievement  that  will  ever  loom 
large  in  the  history  of  the  discovery  and  exploration 
of  the  New  World. 

Claude  Two  years  after  Marquette 's  wintering  on  the  banks 

Aiiouez,  1677  Of  the  Chicago  River,  another  Jesuit,  in  the  person  of 
Claude  Allouez,  entered  the  same  river  from  Lake  Mich- 
igan. Towards  the  end  of  October,  1676,  that  veteran 
missionary,  the  apostle  of  Wisconsin  and  founder  of 
all  the  principal  mission-posts  within  its  borders,  started 
from  what  is  now  De  Pere  with  two  men  to  visit  the 
Kaskaskia  Mission,  which  Father  Marquette  had  set  up 
on  the  Illinois  River  as  the  final  achievement  of  his 
all  too  brief  career.  Detained  by  intensely  cold  weather 
among  the  Potawatomi  of  Green  Bay  until  February, 
1677,  Father  Allouez  then  resumed  his  journey  and 
about  the  middle  of  April  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Chicago  River.  Here,  or  some  distance  up  the  stream, 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  11 

he  met  a  band  of  eighty  Indians  by  whom  he  was  wel- 
comed with  great  display  of  cordiality. 

"The  Captain  came  about  30  steps  to  meet  me,  carrying 
in  one  hand  a  fire-brand  and  in  the  other  a  calumet  adorned 
with  feathers.  Approaching  me,  he  placed  it  in  my  mouth  and 
lighted  the  tobacco,  which  obliged  me  to  make  pretense  of 
smoking  it.  Then  he  made  me  come  into  his  cabin,  and  having 
given  me  the  place  of  honor,  he  spoke  as  follows: 

'My  Father,  have  pity  on  me;  suffer  me  to  return  Avith 
thee,  to  bear  thee  company  and  take  thee  into  my  village. 
The  meeting  that  I  have  had  with  thee  to-day  will  prove  fatal 
to  me  if  I  do  not  use  it  to  my  advantage.  Thou  bearest  to  us 
the  gospel  and  the  prayer.  If  I  lose  the  opportunity  of 
listening  to  thee,  I  shall  be  punished  by  the  loss  of  my 
nephews  whom  thou  seest  in  so  great  numbers:  without  doubt 
they  will  be  defeated  by  our  enemies.  Let  us  embark  then, 
in  company,  that  I  may  profit  by  thy  coming  into  my  land.' 
That  said,  he  set  out  at  the  same  time  as  ourselves  and  shortly 
after,  we  arrived  at  his  abode.5  " 

No  further  details  of  Father  Allouez's  visit  in  1677 
to  the  site  of  Chicago  are  known  outside  of  the  few  just 
cited,  which  he  himself  put  on  record.  After  him,  other 
members  of  his  Order,  including  Sebastian  Kasles, 
James  Gravier,  Julian  Binneteau  and  Gabriel  Marest 
gave  their  services  to  the  maintenance  of.  the  Kaskaskia 
Mission.  They  most  probably  made  use  of  the  Chicago 
portage  on  their  way  to  the  Mission  from  their  head- 
quarters in  Canada.  One  of  their  number,  Father 
Gravier,  set  out  from  Chicago  in  1700  on  a  journey 
down  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  ' '  I  received 
on  my  return  from  Michilimackinak, "  he  wrote  to  a 


5  Jesuit  Eelations,  60:  158.  "In  April,  1677,  the  party  en- 
tered at  last  the  river  which  leads  to  the  Illinois,  undoubtedly 
the  stream  now  flowing  through  Chicago."  MASON,  op.  cit.,  p.  44. 


12 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH   IN   CHICAGO 


Zenobe 

Membre, 

1681; 

Cavelier 

de  la  Salle, 

Anastasius 

Douay, 

1688 


friend,  "the  letter  that  you  did  me  the  honor  of  writing 
to  me  by  way  of  the  Mississipy,  addressed  to  Father 
Aveneau,  who  sent  it  to  me  at  Chicagoua  —  whence  I 
started  in  1700,  on  the  8th  of  September,  to  come  here. '  '6 
In  December,  1681,  four,  years  and  more  later  than 
his  arrival  at  the  Chicago  River,  Allouez  was  followed 
there  by  the  exploring  party  of  La  Salle  and  Tonty. 
In  the  party  was  the  Recollect  Zenobe  Membre,  who 
was  later  to  lose  his  life  at  the  hands  of  hostile  Indians 
in  the  wilds  of  Texas.  Seven  years  more  were  to  pass 
when  in  1688  the  sad  survivors  of  La  Salle 's  last  ex- 
ploring party  passed  through  Chicago  on  their  way  to 
Canada.  Joutel,  whose  Journal  is  a  classic  in  the  liter- 
ature of  American  exploration,  led  the  group,  which 
included  two  priests,  M.  Cavelier  de  La  Salle,  a  brother 
of  the  explorer,  and  the  Recollect,  Father  Anastasius 
Douay.  Bad  weather  kept  the  travellers  at  the  Chicago 
River  from  March  29  to  April  5,  when  they  began  to 
paddle  their  canoes  over  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan. 
They  had  found  but  little  game  at  their  stopping-place, 
but  the  maple  trees  furnished  an  abundance  of  syrup 
in  which  they  boiled  their  Indian  corn,  "which  made  it 
delicious,  sweet  and  of  a  very  agreeable  relish."7 


6  Jesuit  Eelations,  65 :  100. 

''Memoir  of  the  Sieur  De  Tonty  in  FRENCH'S  Historical  Col- 
lections of  Louisiana,  59.  JOUTEL 's  Journal  in  FRENCH'S  Hist. 
Coll.  Louisiana,  190.  Joutel  has  this  reference  to  Chicago:  "We 
went  on  until  Thursday  the  25th  when  we  arrived  at  a  place 
called  Chicagou,  which,  according  to  what  we  were  told,  has  been 
so  called  on  account  of  the  quantity  of  garlic  growing  in  this 
district  in  the  woods.  There  is  a  small  river  there,  formed  from 
the  drainage  from  a  great  plain  or  prairie  at  that  place  which 
flows  straight  into  the  lake,  called,  as  I  have  said  elsewhere,  the 
Lake  of  the  Illinois  of  Michigan,"  Journal  in  QUAIFE,  The  De- 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  13 

Glancing  back  at  our  narrative,  we  see  that  five 
Catholic  priests  at  least,  Fathers  Marquette,  Allouez, 
Membre,  Cavelier  de  la  Salle,  and  Douay,  find  mention 
in  contemporary  records  as  having  visited  the  site  of 
Chicago  before  the  establishment  there  of  the  Jesuit  . 

0  f  Francois 

Mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel  by  Father  Pinet  towards  Pinet 
the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century.  and  the 

Mission  of  the 

We  now  come  to  a  highly  interesting  episode  that   Guardian 
stands  out  phantom-like  through  the  dim  twilight  of  *?*?' 

lotrO'l./  00 

early  Chicago  history.  The  substance  of  the  fact  is 
beyond  dispute,  but  details  are  tantalizingly  few.  It  is 
a  truth  scarcely  recorded  in  the  history  books,  so  casual 
is  the  mention  of  it  surviving  in  documentary  sources, 
that  on  the  site  of  Chicago  or  in  its  immediate  vicinity 
there  existed  during  the  closing  years  of  the  seventeenth 
century  a  Catholic  Mission  conducted  on  behalf  of  the 
Miami  Indians  of  the  neighborhood.  It  was  established 
under  the  name  of  the  " Guardian  Angel"  in  1696  by 
the  Jesuit  Father  Francois  Pinet  and  maintained  by 
him  until  1700,  when  it  closed  its  doors.  We  get  but 
a  faint  picture  of  this  primitive  establishment  from  the 
few  meagre  particulars  that  survive.  As  to  its  precise 


velopment  of  Chicago,  p.  22.  According  to  Joutel  (Journal, 
p.  31),  the  Jesuits  had  built  a  fort  at  Chicago,  a  statement  not 
in  accordance  with  the  facts.  See  in  the  Transactions  of  the 
Illinois  Historical  Society,  a  study  by  MILO  MILTON  QUAIFE, 
"Was  there  a  French  fort  at  Chicago?"  which  query  he  answers 
in  the  negative.  However,  there  is  evidence,  though  perhaps  not 
altogether  decisive,  that  in  1682  or  1683  La  Salle  caused  to  be 
built  at  Chicago  a  small  post  or  fort,  which  was  afterwards 
strengthened  by  Tonty  and  La  Forest.  See  ALVORD,  The  Illinois 
Country,  Centennial  History  of  Illinois,  1:  89,  101.  "After 
Marquette 's  hut  this  was  the  first  building  on  the  site  of 
Chicago." 


14 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 


MM. 

Hontigny, 
Davion, 
St.  Cosme, 
1698 


location,  investigators  are  not  agreed,  though  all  fix 
it  within  the  city  limits  of  Chicago  or  a  few  miles  be- 
yond. It  has  been  placed  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Calumet8 
as  also  on  the  margin  of  the  marshy  body  of  water 
known  as  the  ' '  Skokie, "  at  a  distance  of  two  miles  north 
of  the  city-limits  of  Evanston.9  A  recent  student  of  the 
problem,  rejecting  the  locations  named,  reaches  the  con- 
clusion that  the  Miami  Mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel 
stood  "on  the  Chicago  River  somewhere  between  the 
forks  and  the  mouth,"  in  what  is  now  the  very  heart 
of  the  metropolis.10  At  all  events,  then,  the  Mission  was 
established  either  on  the  site  of  the  modern  Chicago  or 
in  close  proximity  to  it,  and  this  circumstance,  coupled 
with  the  fact  that  it  bore  the  city's  name,  Mission  de 
L'Ange  Guardien  de  Cliicagou,  lends  it  surpassing  in- 
terest in  the  story  of  early  Catholicism  in  Chicago. 

Situated  as  it  was  on  the  route  usually  taken  by 
missionaries  from  Canada  as  they  made  their  way  south 
to  the  mission-posts  on  the  Illinois  River,  the  Mission 


s  WILLIAM  HEXRY  LEE,  The  Calumet  Portage,  in  Transactions 
of  the  Illinois  Historical  Society,  1912. 

9  Father  Pierre  Frangois  Pinet,  S.  J.,  and  his  Mission  of  the 
Guardian  Angel   of   Chicago    (L'Ange   Guardien)    1696-1699.     A 
paper    read   before   a   joint   meeting    of   the   Chicago    Historical 
Society  and  the  Evanston  Historical  Society  in  the  Chicago  His- 
torical  Society   Building,    Nov.    27,    1906,   by   Frank   E.    Grover. 
Quaife,   characterizing   Grover 's   study  as  uncritical,   declines   to 
accept  the  latter 's  contention  in  favor  of  the  "Skokie"  or  North 
Shore  site  of  Father  Pinet 's  Mission. 

10  QUAIFE,  op.  cit.,  p.  42.     ''From  every  point  of  view  the 
study  of  St.  Cosme 's  letter  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Mission 
of  the  Guardian  Angel  was  on  the  Chicago  River  at  some  point 
between  the  forks  and  the  mouth."     Gurdon  S.  Hubbard  in  his 
Autobiography  places  Father  Pinet 's  Mission  on  the  North  branch 
of  the  Chicago  River  though  on  what  evidence  does  not  appear. 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  15 

of  the  Guardian  Angel  became  a  favorite  halting-place 
for  those  sturdy  pioneers  of  civilization  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley.  Here,  in  October,  1698,  Fathers  Montigny, 
Davion  and  St.  Cosme,  of  the  Society  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, who  were  commissioned  by  Bishop  St.  Vallier  of 
Quebec  to  evangelize  the  Indians  of  the  Mississippi 
country,  were  hospitably  received  by  the  resident  Jesuit 
priests;  and  the  incident,  over  two  centuries  removed 
from  the  present  writing,  brings  home  to  us  the  interest- 
ing fact  that  even  at  that  remote  date  civilization  and 
Christianity  were  not  unknown  on  the  bleak  stretch  of 
morass  and  prairie  that  has  since  become  Chicago.  Be- 
fore leaving  Canada  the  Montigny  party  had  held  con- 
ferences lasting  through  seven  days  with  the  experienced 
Jesuit  missionaries,  Fathers  Gravier  and  Carheil,  who 
assured  them  that  a  cordial  welcome  awaited  them  in 
Chicago.  "Father  Binneteau,  as  well  as  Father  Pinet 
at  Chicago,  will  find  it  a  pleasure  to  render  them  every 
sort  of  service."11  Of  the  reception  they  met  with  at 
Chicago  Father  St.  Cosme  wrote  from  the  Arkansas 
under  date  of  January  2,  1699 : 

"We    remained    five    days    at   Kipikaoni    [Racine,  Wis.]    St.  Cosme'a 
leaving  on  the  17th  and  after  being  windbound-  on  the  18th      etter> 
and  19th  we  camped  on  the  20th  at  a  place  five  leagues  from    1(i99 
Chikagou.    We  should  have  arrived  there  early  on  the  21st, 
but  the  wind  which  suddenly  arose  on  the  lake  compelled  us 
to  land  half  a  league  from  Chikagou.    We  had  considerable 
difficulty  in  landing  and  in  saving  our  canoes;  we  had  all  to 
jump  into  the  water.    One  must  be  very  careful  along  the 
lakes,  and  especially  Lake  Michigan,  whose  shores  are  very 
low,  to  take  to  the  land  as  soon  as  possible  when  the  waves 


11  Eelation  De  La  Mission  Du  Mississippi  du  Seminaire  de 
Quebec  en  1700  par  Mm.  De  Montigny,  De  St..  Cosme  et  Thaumur 
Du  La  Source,  65  (Shea,  Cramoisy  Press,  New  York,  1861). 


16  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH   IN   CHICAGO 

rise  on  the  lake,  for  the  rollers  become  so  high  in  so  short 
a  time  that  one  runs  the  risk  of  breaking  his  canoe  and  losing 
all  it  contains.  Many  travellers  have  already  been  wrecked 
there.  We,  Monseigneur  de  Montigny,  Davion  and  myself, 
went  by  land  to  the  house  of  the  Reverend  Jesuit  Fathers 
while  our  people  remained  behind.  We  found  there  Reverend 
Father  Binneteau,  who  had  recently  arrived  from  the  Illinois 
country  and  was  slightly  ill. 

I  cannot  describe  to  you,  my  lord,  with  what  cordiality 
and  manifestations  of  friendship  these  Reverend  Fathers  re- 
ceived and  embraced  us  while  we  had  the  consolation  of  re- 
siding with  them.  Their  house  is  built  on  the  bank  of  a  small 
river,  with  the  lake  on  one  side  and  a  fine  and  vast  prairie 
on  the  other.  The  village  of  the  savages  contains  over  a 
hundred  and  fifty  cabins  and  a  league  up  the  river  is  still 
another  village  almost  as  large.  They  are  all  Miamis.  Reverend 
Father  Pinet  usually  resides  there  except  in  winter,  when 
the  savages  are  all  engaged  in  hunting  and  then  he  goes  to 
the  Ilinois.  We  saw  no  savages  there;  they  had  already 
started  for  their  hunt.  If  we  may  judge  of  the  future  from 
the  short  time  that  Reverend  Father  Pinet  has  passed  in  this 
mission  we  may  believe  that  if  God  will  bless  the  labors  and 
zeal  of  that  holy  missionary  there  will  be  a  great  number  of 
good  and  holy  Christians.  It  is  true  that  but  slight  results 
are  obtained  with  reference  to  the  older  persons,  who  are 
hardened  in  profligacy,  but  all  the  children  are  baptized, 
and  the  jugglers  even,  who  are  the  most  opposed  to  Chris- 
tianity, allow  their  children  to  be  baptized.  They  are  also 
very  glad  to  let  them  be  instructed.  Several  girls  of  a  certain 
age  and  also  many  young  boys  have  already  been  and  are  being- 
instructed,  so  that  we  may  hope  that  when  the  old  stock  dies 
off,  they  will  be  a  new  and  entirely  Christian  people." 

At  the  departure  of  Father  Montigny  and  his  fellow- 
priests  from  the  Jesuit  Mission  at  Chicago,  a  young  lad 
of  their  party  lent  an  unexpected  element  of  excitement 
to  the  routine  of  the  journey  by  getting  lost  in  the 
prairies.  Thirteen  days  later  he  reappeared  at  the 


EARLY    MISSIONARY   VISITORS  17 

Mission-house  utterly  exhausted  and  out  of  his  mind. 
Chicago's  first  "small  boy"  went  on  record  as  occasion- 
ing at  least  one  spell  of  poignant  anxiety  to  his  elders. 
The  incident  is  told  by  Father  St.  Cosme,  as  he  con- 
tinues his  letter : 

"On  the  24th  of  October  the  wind  fell  and  we  went  for 
our  canoes  with  all  our  effects,  and  finding  that  the  water  was 
extraordinarily  low,  we  made  a  cache  in  the  ground  with  some 
of  them  and  took  only  what  was  absolutely  necessary  for  our 
journey,  intending  to  send  for  the  remainder  in  the  spring. 
We  left  Brother  Alexandre  in  charge  thereof,  as  he  agreed  to 
remain  there  with  Father  Pinet's  man.  We  started  from 
Chikagou  on  the  29th,  and  slept  about  two  leagues  from  it 
on  the  little  river  [south  fork  of  the  Chicago  river]  that 
afterward  loses  itself  in  the  prairies.  On  the  following  day 
we  began  the  portage,  which  is  about  three  leagues  in  length 
when  the  waters  are  low  and  is  only  one-fourth  of  a  league 
in  the  Spring,  for  then  we  can  embark  on  a  small  lake  [Mud 
or  Portage  Lake]  that  discharges  into  a  branch  of  the  river 
of  the  Illinois,  and  when  the  waters  are  low  a  portage  has  to 
be  made  to  that  branch.  On  that  day  we  got  over  half  our 
portage  and  would  have  gone  still  further  when  we  perceived 
that  a  little  boy  given  us  by  Monsieur  de  Muis  and  who  had 
set  out  alone  although  he  was  told  to  Avait,  was  lost.  We  had 
not  noticed  it  because  all  our  people  were  busy.  We  were 
obliged  to  stop  to  look  for  him;  everybody  went  and  several 
gun-shots  were  fired  but  he  could  not  be  found.  It  was  a 
rather  unfortunate  accident;  we  were  pressed  for  time,  owing 
to  the  lateness  of  the  Season,  and  the  waters  being  very  low, 
we  saw  quite  well,  that  as  we  were  obliged  to  carry  our 
luggage  and  our  Canoe,  it  would  take  a  long  time  to  reach 
the  Illinois.  This  compelled  us  to  separate.  Messieurs  de 
Montigny,  de  Tonty  and  Davion  continued  the  portage  on  the 
following  day,  while  I  with  four  other  men  went  back  to 
look  for  the  little  boy.  While  retracing  my  steps  I  met 
Fathers  Pinet  and  Binneteau,  who  were  on  the  way  with 
two  Frenchmen  and  a  savage.  We  looked  for  the  boy  during 
the  whole  of  that  day  also  without  finding  him.  As  it  was 


18  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH   IN   CHICAGO 

the  day  before  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  I  was  compelled  to 
go  to  Chikagou  for  the  night  with  our  people.  After  they 
had  heard  Mass  and  performed  their  devotions  early  in  the 
morning,  they  spent  the  whole  of  that  day  also  looking  for 
the  little  boy  without  getting  sight  of  him.  It  was  very 
difficult  to  find  him  in  the  long  grass,  for  this  country  con- 
sists of  nothing  but  prairies  with  a  few  groves  of  trees.  We 
were  afraid  to  set  fire  to  the  long  grass  lest  we  might  burn 
the  boy.  Monsieur  de  Montigny  had  told  me  to  remain  only 
one  day,  because  the  cold  weather  pressed  us  and  this  com- 
pelled roe  to  proceed,  after  giving  orders  to  Brother  Alex- 
andre  to  seek  him  and  take  some  Frenchmen  who  were  at 
Chikagou."  12 

In  April  of  1699  Father  Montigny  was  again  in 
Chicago,  having  returned  thither  from  the  lower  Mis- 
sissippi. To  Father  Bruyas,  Jesuit  Superior  at  Quebec, 
he  wrote  from  Chicago  on  April  23  of  that  year  a 


]-  KELLOGG,  Early  Narratives  of  the  Northwest,  p.  346.  See 
also  QUAIFE,  The  Development  of  Chicago,  1674-1914.  Father 
St.  Cosme  and  his  companion-priests  in  the  course  of  their  voyage 
down  the  Mississippi  celebrated  Mass,  December  8,  1698,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  river  directly  opposite  the  Tamaroa  village, 
near  the  later  Cahokia.  This  location  is  evidently  to  be  identified 
with  the  site  of  St.  Louis.  We  accordingly  have  here  the  earliest 
recorded  exercise  of  the  Christian  ministry  within  the  limits  of 
the  future  metropolis.  "Next  day  [Dec.  7]  about  noon  \ve 

reached  the  Tamarois but  did  not  go  to  it  as  we  wished 

to  prepare  for  the  feast  of  the  Conception.  We  cabined  011  the 

other  side  of  the  river  on  the  right next  day,  feast  of  the 

Conception,  after  saying  our  Masses,  we  went  with  M.  Tonty  and 
seven  of  our  men  well  armed . ' ' 

Up  to  a  period  well  within  the  nineteenth  century  custom 
sanctioned  the  prefix  "Father,"  for  the  names  of  priests  belong- 
ing to  religious  orders,  and  the  prefix  ' '  Mr. ' '  for  the  names  of 
priests  not  belonging  to  such  orders.  Conformably  to  present-day 
usage,  the  writer  has  preferred  to  designate  all  priests  uniformly 
as  "Father." 


„  £w»««bc  <•» 


+v 
A  ,^  st  ^ 


-; 


******  cux 


The  Reverend  Mr.  Montigny,  priest  of  the  Society  of  Foreign  Missions, 
writes  from  "Chicagou,"  April  23,  1699,  to  the  Superior  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus  in  Quebec,  advising  him  that  the  Jesuit  missionary  stationed  in 
"Chicagou"  is  overtaxing  himself  with  the  labors  of  the  ministry.  Prob- 
ably the  oldest  written  communication  dated  from  Chicago.  Photostat  copy 
from  the  hitherto  unpublished  original  in  the  Congressional  Library,  Wash- 
ington. 


, 


EARLY    MISSIONARY   VISITORS 


19 


letter  which  is  still  preserved,  being  very  probably  the 
oldest  written  communication  from  that  locality  known 
to  exist.13 

"We  are  under  too  many  obligations  to  your  Fathers  for 
the  kind  reception  they  have  been  pleased  to  tender  us  not  to 
give  some  expression  of  my  gratitude.  For  your  Fathers 
of  Michilimakinac,  of  Pimiteoui  [Peoria]  and  of  Chicagou 
have  spared  no  pains  to  make  us  welcome.  I  declare  to  you 
I  have  been  highly  edified  by  their  zeal,  though  of  a  surety 
I  do  not  believe  that  they  can  bear  up  much  longer  under  the 
severe  hardships  which  they  endure;  I  believe  that  you  ought 
either  to  tell  them  not  to  take  so  much  upon  themselves  or 
at  least  to  send  somebody  to  share  with  them  the  toils  of 
their  missions.  I  speak  in  particular  of  the  one  in  Chicagou 
and  of  Father  Binneteau,  whom  we  found  in  Chicagou  quite 
exhausted  after  the  rather  serious  illness  he  had  passed 
through.  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  Seminary 
of  Quebec  will  inform  you,  should  you  so  desire,  concerning 
the  particulars  of  our  journey,  which,  thanks  be  to  God,  ha? 
been  a  fairly  prosperous  one,  the  occasion  which  is  about 
to  slip  by  not  permitting  me  to  write  to  you  about  it  my- 
self, as  I  should  wish  to  have  done.  I  beg  you  be  persuaded 
that  I  am  very  truly  in  our  Lord, 

My  Reverend  Father, 

Your  very  humble  and  obedient  servant. 

MONTIGNY. 
From  Chicagou,  April  23,  1699." 


13  M.  Montigny  a  P.  Bruyas,  April  23,  1699.  The  original, 
in  French,  of  Father  Montigny 's  Chicago  letter  of  April  23, 
1699,  hitherto  unpublished  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  is  in 
the  Congressional  Library,  Washington.  Shea  has  printed  two 
Chicago  letters  in  his  Relation,  etc.,  (cf.  note  11)  one  by 
Thaumur  la  Source,  April,  1699,  and  the  other  by  Michael  St. 
Cosme  [1]  "de  Chicago,  ce  Avril,  1699."  "We  [Montigny  and 
la  Source]  arrived  on  Maunday  Thursday  at  Chicagou,  after 

making   thirty   leagues   by   land We   are   to    start    from 

Chicagou   on   Easter   Monday.    The   finest   country   we   have   seen 


Chicago, 
April  23, 
1699 


20  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH   IN   CHICAGO 

Few  particulars  of  the  work  of  the  Jesuit  mission- 
aries at  Chicago  during  the  period  1696-1700  have  come 
down  to  us.14  Around  the  Mission  were  two  Indian 
villages  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  cabins  each.  The  most 
interesting  fact  recorded  is  the  conversion  by  Father 
Pinet  of  the  Peoria  chief  who  had  previously  resisted 
the  zealous  solicitations  of  Father  Gravier  at  Kaskaskia. 
Yet,  that  the  Mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel  at  Chicago 
was  a  post  of  importance  in  the  French  dominions  of 
the  New  World  seems  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  it  chal- 
lenged the  attention  of  Frontenac,  Governor  of  Canada, 
who,  in  pursuance  of  his  general  policy  of  unfriendliness 
to  the  Jesuit  establishments,  closed  it  in  1697.  Appeal 
having  been  made  to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  the  mission- 
aries were  enabled  through  his  intervention  to  resume 
their  labors,  which,  however,  were  not  to  continue  long. 
For  reasons  not  ascertainable  now  the  Mission  was  closed 
permanently  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  Father  Pinet,  its  founder,  withdrawing  there- 
upon to  the  Tamaroa  Indians,  who  were  settled  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Mississippi  opposite  the  point  on  the 
right  bank  where  Laclede  was  in  later  years  to  establish 
the  trading  post  that  developed  into  St.  Louis.  Among 
the  Tamaroa  and  the  Cahokia  he  labored  with  excellent 
results,  his  little  mission-chapel  of  the  Holy  Family 
being  unable,  on  the  testimony  of  Father  Gravier,  to 
contain  the  throng  of  Indians  that  flocked  to  hear  him. 
When  the  Tamaroa  with  a  considerable  number  of  the 


in    all    is   from   Chicagou   to    the    Tamaroas.     It    is   nothing   but 
prairie  and  clumps  of  trees  as  far  as  you  can  see." 

14  The  few  references  to  Father  Pinet 's  Mission  in  the  Jesuit 
Relations  are  gathered  together  in  Frank  B.  Cover's  paper  cited 
above. 


EARLY    MISSIONARY   VISITORS  21 

French  joined  the  Kaskaskia  in  their  new  home  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Mississippi  two  leagues  below  the 
mission  of  the  Holy  Family,  Father  Pinet  appears  to 
have  accompanied  them;  at  all  events,  he  died  in  their 
midst.  He  is  the  first  clergyman  known  to  have  died 
in  the  territory  that  has  since  become  the  state  of  Mis- 
souri, the  French-Kaskaskia-Tamaroa  village  which  saw 
his  last  moments,  Missouri's  earliest  settlement,  having 
stood  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Des  Peres  river  at  its 
mouth,  a  spot  within  the  city-limits  of  the  St.  Louis  of 
today.  Francois  Pinet,  the  first  resident  missionary- 
priest  of  Chicago,  was  likewise,  it  would  appear,  one  of 
the  first  resident  missionary-priests  of  St.  Louis,  thus 
furnishing  in  his  person  a  most  interesting  link  of 
association  of  over  two  centuries '  standing  between  those 
two  great  cities  of  the  Middle  West.15 


15  A  brief  sketch  of  Father  Pinet  may  be  read  in  the  Jesuit 
Eelations,  64:  278.  For  an  imaginative  treatment  of  the  Mission 
of  the  Guardian  Angel  of  Chicago,  see  JENNIE  HALL'S  The  Story 
of  Chicago,  35.  According  to  SHEA,  Mississippi  Voyages,  53, 
note,  Father  Pinet  died  at  Cahokia  about  1704,  while  the  author- 
itative list  of  Jesuit  missionaries  prepared  by  Father  Arthur 
Jones,  S.  Jv  of  Montreal,  for  the  Jesuit  Eelations,  71:  158,  gives 
place  and  time  of  Father  Pinet 's  death  as  Chicago,  July  16, 
1704.  Both  of  these  authorities  are  apparently  to  be  set  aside 
by  the  definitive  contemporary  testimony  of  •  Father  Bergier  ac- 
cording to  which  Pinet  died  among  the  Kaskaskia,  August  1,  1702 
(Letter  of  Bergier,  March  1,  1703,  in  Transactions  of  the  Illinois 
Historical  Society,  1905,  p.  41).  At  the  period  of  Pinet 's  death 
at  the  Eiver  Des  Peres,  Father  Bergier  was  living  at  Cahokia 
on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  The  tradition  locating 
a  Jesuit  mission  at  the  mouth  of  the  River  Des  Peres,  Missouri, 
has  recently  been  placed  on  a  strictly  historical  basis  by  Rev. 
Laurence  Kenny,  S.  Jv  of  St.  Louis  University.  Cf.  St.  Louis 
Catholic  Historical  Review,  1:  151-156. 


22  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

With  the  closing  about  1700  of  Father  Pinet's  Mis- 
sion of  the  Guardian  Angel  at  Chicago,  a  veil  is  thrown 
over  the  religious  history  of  the  locality  for  more  than 
a  century.  Not  until  1796  is  the  place  known  to  have 
been  visited  again  by  a  Catholic  priest.  It  is  safe  indeed 
to  assume  that  during  this  interval,  one  or  more  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  stationed  at  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia 
on  the  Mississippi  made  use  of  the  Chicago  portage  on 
their  way  to  and  from  headquarters  in  Canada;  but  no 
mention  of  any  of  their  number  in  such  connection 
occurs  in  the  Relations  or  other  sources.16  In  1721 
Father  Francois  Charlevoix,  Jesuit  traveler  and  his- 
torian, then  visiting  the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes  and 
the  Mississippi  country  under  a  commission  from  the 
French  government  to  investigate  the  problem  of  a 
trade-route  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  was  at  the  Potawatomi- 
Miami  Mission  on  the  St.  Joseph  river  near  Niles, 
Michigan.  Thence,  as  his  entertaining  narrative  informs 
us,  his  itinerary  was  to  bring  him  to  the  Illinois  by  way 


Father  Montigny,  one  of  the  party  of  priests  of  the  For- 
eign Missions  who  passed  through  Chicago  in  the  autumn  of 
1698,  returned  there  for  a  visit  the  following  spring.  "I  will 
inform  you  simply  of  that  which  took  place  in  this  Mission  since 
our  arrival  from  the  Arkansas  and  since  M.  de  Montigny  left  it 
to  go  to  Chicago,  March  28,  of  the  preceding  year,  1699.  He 
left  me  here  with  two  men.  I  worked  toward  having  my  home 
built  and  had  wood  gathered  for  my  chapel.  I  baptized  several 
children  and  upon  Mr.  Montigny 's  return  from  Chicago,  I  had 
baptized  thirty."  Extract  from  a  letter  of  Father  St.  Cosme 
dated  Tamarois,  March  1700,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Illinois 
Historical  Society,  1908,  p.  236. 

16  In  1728  Father  Dumas,  S.  J.,  accompanied  a  French  mili- 
tary expedition  to  Chicago  or  its  neighborhood  where  a  band  of 
Foxes  and  Kickapoo  were  routed  in  battle,  many  of  them  being 
killed.  ALVORD,  Tlie  Illinois  Country,  1673-1818,  p.  163. 


EARLY    MISSIONARY   VISITORS  23 

of  ' '  the  little  river  Chicagou ' ' ;  but  the  low  stage  of 
water  in  that  stream  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  choose 
another  route.17 

At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Miami 
Indians  were  settled  on  the  site  of  Chicago  or  in  its 
immediate  vicinity.18  Having  shifted  their  habitat  at 
a  later  period  to  the  southeast,  to  what  is  now  northern 
and  central  Indiana,  they  were  followed  in  the  Chicago 
region  by  the  Potawatomi,  who  remained  there  until 
the  removal  of  the  tribe  to  the  A\7est  by  the  Government 
in  1835.  At  the  treaty  of  Greenville  in  1795  the  Pota- 
watomi ceded  to  the  United  States  as  a  site  for  a 
government  fort  a  tract  six  miles  square  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Chicago  River,  the  innermost  area  of  the  metrop- 
olis that  was  to  be. 

Pioneer 

After  the  eclipse  into  which  it  passed  for  the  first  settlers, 
six  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century,  that  point  on  the  ^f^0™^ 

Guane, 

map  again  comes  into  view  as  a  place  of  human  habita-  Pointede 
tion  with  the  alleged  arrival  about   1765   of  Madame  ><laib,le'f 

Omlmette, 

La  Compt  nee  La  Flamme,  born  at  St.  Joseph  on  Lake   LeMai, 

Pettel, 

17  CHARLEVOIX,   A    voyage   to   North  America,   Dublin,    1766,    Kimie. 
Letter  XXVI,  139.     "I  think  I  informed  you  in  my  last,  that  I 

had  the  Choice  of  Two  Ways  to  go  to  Illinois:  The  first  was, 
to  return  to  Lake  Michigan,  to  coast  on  the  South  Shore,  and 
to  enter  into  the  little  River  Chicagou.  After  going  up  it  five 
or  six  leagues,  they  pass  into  that  of  the  Illinois,  by  the  means 
of  two  Portages,  the  longest  of  which  is  but  a  league  and  a 
quarter.  But  as  this  River  is  but  a  Brook  in  this  place,  I  was 
informed  that  at  that  time  of  the  year  I  should  not  find  water 
enough  for  my  canoe;  therefore  I  took  the  other  route,  which 
has  also  its  inconveniences,  and  is  not  near  so  pleasant,  but  it  is 
the  nearest."  See  also  QUAIFE,  op.  cit.,  45. 

18  Handbook  of  American  Indians  (Bureau  of  American  Eth- 
nology), I,  Art.  Miami. 


24  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Michigan.19  Here  is  a  curious,  almost  half-mythical 
figure,  as  seen  through  the  prevailing  haze  that  envelops 
this  period  of  Chicago  history.  Next  in  succession  to 
Madame  La  Compt  arrives  a  trader  by  the  name  of 
Guarie,  whom  tradition  represents  has  having  had  a 
house  on  the  North  Branch  as  early  as  1778.  Then, 
about  1790,  came  the  San  Domingo  negro  or  mulatto, 
Jean  Baptiste  Pointe  de  Saible.20  He  was  a  trader  by 
occupation  and  according  to  one  account  had  so  in- 
gratiated himself  with  the  Potawatomi  that  he  aspired 
to  become  their  chief.  By  Col.  De  Peyster,  British  Com- 
mandant at  Detroit,  he  is  touched  off  in  an  official 
report  as  a  "well  educated  and  handsome  negro." 
Pointe  de  Saible  built  his  cabin  close  to  the  north  bank 
of  the  river  at  the  foot  of  the  former  Pine  Street, 
where  now  the  new  massive  boulevard  bridge  spans  the 
river.  Here  he  remained  until  about  1796,  when  he 
withdrew  to  Peoria,  or,  according  to  another  account, 
to  the  region  of  St.  Louis.  Before  his  departure  he  dis- 
posed of  his  cabin  to  Francis  Le  Mai,  a  French-Canadian 
trader,  who  in  time  sold  it  to  John  Kinzie  when  the 


30  By  far  the  most  critical  study  of  the  successive  arrivals 
of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Chicago  is  to  be  found  in  MILO  MILTON 
QUAIFE 's  Chicago  and  the  Old  Northwest,  1673-1835  (University 
of  Chicago  Press,  1913),  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made.  For  notices  of  Madame  La  Compt  and  Guarie,  see  QUAIFE, 
op.  cit.,  137.  Madame  La  Compt,  later  Mrs.  Brady,  died  at 
Cahokia  at  the  age  of  100  years.  According  to  REYNOLDS,  Pioneer 
History  of  Illinois,  Belleville,  1852,  p.  136,  she  settled  in  Chicago 
with  her  first  husband,  ' '  Sainte  Ange  or  Pelate,  as  he  was  some- 
times called,"  about  the  year  1765.  Reynolds,  who  apparently  was 
so  informed  by  Madame  La  Compt  herself,  is  the  only  authority 
for  the  statement. 

-"  QUAIFE,  op.  cit..  138-142. 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  25 

latter  arrived  in  Chicago  in  1804.21  Enlarged  and  im- 
proved by  its  third  owner,  this  building  achieved  local 
fame  as  the  Kinzie  Mansion,  the  first  chronologically  of 
that  vast  forest  of  human  habitations  which  is  Chicago. 
To  the  names  of  Pointe.de  Saible  and  Le  Mai  must  be 
added  those  of  Antoine  Ouilmette  and  Louis  Pettel  or 
Pettle  to  complete  the  list  of  persons  who  are  known 
to  have  settled  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River  prior 
to  1805.  As  Antoine  Ouilmette  took  up  his  residence 
there  as  early  as  1790,  he  is  perhaps  entitled  to  the 
distinction  of  being  the  first  white  settler  of  Chicago, 
if  we  except  the  claims  to  priority,  doubtful  at  the 
best,  of  Madame  La  Compt  and  Guarie.22  Interesting 
as  are  these  remote  occupations  of  Chicago  land  by 


-1  The  identity  of  the  Do  Saible  and  Le  Mai  cabin  with  the 
Kinzie  ' '  mansion ' '  in  its  primitive  stages  of  construction  is  as- 
serted by  Andreas. 

-  BLANCH AED,  Chicago  and  the  Northwest,  1:  574.  Quaife 
does  not  accept  without  reserve  Ouilmette 's  statement  that  he 
settled  at  Chicago  in  1790.  All  available  information  concerning 
this  interesting  figure  on  the  stage  of  early  Chicago  history  has 
been  collected  by  Frank  R.  Grover  in  his  brochure,  Some  Indian 
Lund  Marks  of  the  North  Shore,  pp.  177-290.  Ouilmette 's  wife, 
Archange,  a  Potawatomi,  was  awarded  a  reservation  of  two 
sections  of  land  by  the  Treaty  of  Prairie  du  Chicn,  1829.  "The 
reservation  extends  from  a  point  a  little  south  of  Kenilworth  to 
Central  Street  in  the  city  of  Evanston,  with  the  Lake  as  the 
eastern  boundary  and  extending  west  of  the  Northwestern  Rail- 
way. It  contains  two  full  sections  of  1280  acres  of  land,  some 
300  lying  in  the  city  of  Evanston  and  the  remainder  comprising 
the  greater  part  of  the  land  in  Wilmette  Village."  The  Evanston 
portion  of  the  reservation  was  sold  by  Ouilmette 's  children  in 
1844-45  at  $1.50  an  acre.  Two  of  his  daughters  were  still  living 
in  1905  in  Kansas.  Wilmette  is  of  course  an  Americanized  spell- 
ing for  Ouilmette. 


26  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH   IN   CHICAGO 

adventurous  pioneers,  they  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have 
given  rise  to  the  future  city.  The  event  that  really 
determined  the  growth  of  a  center  of  population  at  the 
outlet  of  the  Chicago  River  was  the  establishment  there 
in  1803  of  Fort  Dearborn  by  Captain  John  Whistler, 
II.  S.  A.  Burnt  to  the  ground  by'  the  Indians  in  the 
historic  massacre  of  1812,  the  Fort  was  rebuilt  in  1816 
and  around  it  as  a  nucleus  the  various  elements  of  a 
new  settlement  gradually  took  shape.  Captain  Whistler 
was  born  in  Ireland  in  1758.  In  the  opinion  of  Quaife, 
than  whom  no  one  has  written  more  authoritatively  of 
Chicago  beginnings,  if  any  individual  may  with  pro- 
priety be  called  the  "Father"  of  the  modern  city,  it  is 
Captain  John  Whistler. 

Of  the  earliest  residents  of  Chicago  mentioned  in 
the  preceding  paragraph,  all,  probably  without  excep- 
tion, were  Catholics  or  had  Catholic  connections.23  On 
October  7,  1799,  a  party  of  Chicago  residents,  "habitans 
a  Chicagou"  were  in  St.  Louis  enlisting  the  services  of 
the  acting  pastor  of  the  place,  the  Recollect,  Father 
Lussoii,  for  the  baptism  of  their  children.  The  party 
included  Francis  Le  May  [Mai]  and  his  wife,  Marie 
Therese  Roy  and  Jean  Baptiste  Peltier  and  the  latter 's 
wife.  Susanne  Pointe  de  Saible,  Joseph  and  Marie 


:3  Robert,  son  of  John  Kinzie,  was  baptized  in  Chicago, 
April  29,  1837,  by  Father  Timothy  O'Meara,  being  then  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age.  Gwenthlean,  daughter  of  Robert  Kinzie  and 
Gwenthlean  Harriet  Whist'ler,  daughter  of  Major  William 
Whistler,  was  baptized  in  Chicago,  September  2,  1838,  by  Bishop 
Brute.  Robert  Kinzie  was  buried  from  St.  James's  Catholic 
Church,  the  officiating  priest  being  Father  Patrick  Riordan,  the 
future  Archbishop  of  San  Francisco.  With  regard  to  Major 
William  Whistler,  son  of  Captain  John  Whistler,  see  note  42,  p.  44. 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  27 

Therese  Le  May  [Mai]  and  Eulalie  Peltier  were  the 
names  of  the  children  baptized.  The  godfather  of  Marie 
Therese  Le  May  [Mai]  was  Pierre  Cadet  Chouteau, 
grandson  of  Madame  Terese  Chouteau,  the  "mother" 
of  St.  Louis. 23b  To  these  interesting  entries  in  the  bap- 
tismal register  of  the  St.  Louis  Cathedral  may  be  added 
an  entry  in  a  register  of  the  church  of  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi,  Portage  des  Sioux,  Missouri,  which  records  the 
marriage  there  on  July  27,  1819,  of  Domitille  Pettelle  of 
"Chicagow"  and  Jean  Evangelist  Sicard  of  St.  Joseph, 
Quebec.24  As  far  as  can  be  ascertained  the  above  take 
precedence  chronologically  over  all  other  recorded 
baptisms  and  marriages  of  residents  or  former  residents 
of  Chicago  or  vicinity  if  we  except  the  baptism  at 
Mackinac  in  June,  1764,  of  Louis  Amiot,  who  was 
born  "at  the  river  Aux  Plains,  near  to  Chicago."25 

In  1815  the  French  Catholics  settled  in  Chicago  ap- 
pear to  have  been  numerous  enough  to  call  for  special 
mention  in  a  report  on  conditions  in  his  diocese  ad- 


•3b  Le  meme  jour  et  I'an  [7  October  1799]  Eulalie  nee  huit 
October,  1796,  du  legitime  marriage  du  Sr.  Jean  Baptiste  Peltier 
et  du  Dlle  Susanne  point  de  Saible  Son  epouse  habits  a  Chicagou 
le  parain  a  etc  le  Sr  hyacinth  Saint  Cyr  et  la  marain  Dlle  helene 
hebert  son  epouse — ct  ce  en  presence  of  M.  et  Madame  le  May 
et  de  plusieurs  autres  qui  ont  signe  leur  marque  ordinaire. 

The  baptismal  and  other  registers  of  the  Old  Cathedral  of 
St.  Louis  are  preserved  in  the  Chancery  office  of  the  Archdiocese 
of  St.  Louis. 

-4  Transcript  of  the  Portage  des  Sioux  Registers  in  the  St. 
Louis  University  Archives. 

25  Father  Du  Jaunay,  Jesuit  missionary,  baptized  at  Mackinac 
in  June,  1764,  "Louis,  legitimate  son  of  Amiot  and  Marianne 
his  wife,  said  infant  born  at  the  river  Aux  Plains  near  to  Chicago 
early  in  October  last."  EDWIN  O.  WOOD,  Historic  Mackinac, 
1:  108. 


28  T11K  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

dressed  in  that  year  by  Bishop  Flaget  of  Bardstown  to 
the  Holy  See.  ' '  Moreover,  I  heard  during  my  excursion 
that  in  the  very  midst  of  the  Indians  were  four  French 
congregations  belonging  to  my  diocese ;  one  on  the  upper 
Mississippi,  another  in  a  place  usually  designated  as 
Chicagou,  still  another  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan 
and  a  fourth  towards  the  source  of  the  Illinois  River; 
but  lack  of  time  and  the  prevalence  of  war  have  pre- 
vented me  from  visiting  them."26  It  is  interesting  to 
note  in  this  connection  that  the  locality  of  Chicago  was 
up  to  this  period  successively  under  the  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction  of  the  dioceses  of  Quebec,  Baltimore  and 
Bardstown.  It  remained  attached  to  Quebec  approx- 
imately from  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century 
up  to  the  erection  in  1784  of  the  Prefecture  Apostolic 
of  the  United  States,  to  which  it  was  then  transferred 
with  the  rest  of  the  former  French  possessions  east  of 
the  Mississippi.  From  the  Prefecture- Apostolic  of  the 
United  States,  which  became  the  diocese  of  Baltimore 
in  1789,  it  passed  to  Bardstown  when  that  see  was 
erected  in  1808  with  the  old  Northwest  Territory  in- 
cluded in  its  jurisdiction.27 


-°  A  transcript  of  the  Latin  original  is  in  the  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity Archives.  The  document  is  dated  Bardstown,  April  11, 
1815.  It  has  recently  been  reproduced  with  English  translation 
and  annotations  in  the  Catholic  Historical  Ecview,  1 :  305.  Hub- 
bard,  the  pioneer  fur-trader,  states  that  on  his  arrival  in  Chicago 
in  1818,  there  were  only  two  French  families  living  in  the  place, 
those  of  A.  Ouilmette  and  J.  B.  Beaubien.  The  Autobiography 
of  Gnrdon  Saltonstall  Ilubbard,  Lakeside  Press,  Chicago,  p.  39. 
The  ' '  French  congregation ' '  at  Chicago,  referred  to  by  Bishop 
Flaget  in  his  report  of  1815,  evidently  included  Catholics  residing 
in  the  outlying  districts. 

27  Chicago  was  apparently  for  a  while  in  the  diocese  of  DC- 


THE  LIBHMN 
OF  THE 


Father  Gabriel  Eichard,  of  the  Society  of  St.  Suplico,  who  said  Mass  and 
preached  in  Chicago  in  1821.  He  was  delegate  to  Congress  from  Michigan 
Territory,  a  unique  distinction,  as  no  other  Catholic  clergyman  of  the 
country  has  held  similar  office.  His  statue,  with  Cadillac's,  adorns  the 
fagade  of  the  City  Hall  of  Detroit,  with  which  metropolis,  in  its  pioneer 
stage  of  development,  his  ministerial  career  is  chiefly  identified.  Original 
painting  by  Lewis,  dated  approximately  1828-1830,  now  the  property  of  the 
University  of  Detroit,  to  which  it  was  presented  in  1912  by  the  daughters 
of  Mrs.  Elenore  St.  Amour  Thompson.  Courtesy  of  the  University  of 
Detroit. 


EARLY    MISSIONARY    VISITORS  29 

During  all  these  years  the  Chicago  district  was  left  Gabriel 
without  the  ministrations  of  a  Catholic  priest.    From  Richard> 

1 821 

the  passing  of  Father  Pinet  at  the  dawn  of  the 
eighteenth  century  down  to  1821  no  exercise  of  the 
Catholic  ministry  is  on  record  as  having  taken  place 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River  or  in  its  vicinity.270 
The  distinction  of  being  the  first  clergyman  known  to 
have  officiated  there  after  that  interval  belongs  to 
Father  Gabriel  Richard,  who  arrived  in  Chicago  from 
Detroit  in  September,  1821. 

"Fifteen  days  later,  thirty  days  in  all  from  Mackinac,  I 
arrived  at  a  post  called  Chicago,  near  a  little  river  of  the  same 
name,  ten  leagues  to  the  northwest  of  the  southernmost  point 
of  Lake  Michigan.  I  said  Mass  in  the  house  of  a  Canadian 
and  preached  in  the  afternoon  to  the  American  garrison. 

Business  of  another  kind  brought  me  to  Chicago.  I  had 
been  invited  by  one  of  the  Potawatomi  chiefs,  who  lived  near 
the  old  Jesuit  mission  of  St.  Joseph,  situated  on  a  river  of 
the  same  name,  to  be  present  at  a  treaty  in  Chicago  which 
the  Indian  tribes  were  going  to  make  at  that  place  with  his 
Excellency,  our  Governor  [Cass].  Contrary  'winds  having 
detained  me  two  weeks  or  twenty  days  longer  than  I  ex- 
pected, it  fell  out  that  the  treaty  was  over  (when  I  arrived). 
I  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  support  the  Indians  in  the  petition 

troit,  the  original  southern  line  of  that  diocese,  as  erected  in 
1833,  having  run  from  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee  west  to  the 
Mississippi.  A  reproduction  of  a  contemporary  map  indicating 
Chicago  as  within  the  limits  of  the  diocese  of  Detroit  accom- 
panies Dean  O'Brien's  sketch  of  the  Detroit  diocese  in  the 
Michigan  Pioneer  and  Historical  Collection,  9:  135. 

27b  Eev.  Michael  Levadoux,  a  Sulpician,  passed  through  Chi- 
cago in  1796  on  his  way  from  Cahokia  to  Detroit.  ' '  Then,  con- 
tinuing my  journey,  I  reached  the  borders  of  Lake  Michigan, 
that  is  to  say,  a  village  called  Chicago.  I  remained  there  only  a 
day  and  a  half.  I  was  visited  by  a  great  Indian  chieftain  and  a 
large  number  of  his  braves,  I  embarked  on  the  Lake  the  8th  of 
July."  'Records  American  Catholic  Historical  Society,  20:  259. 


30  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

which  they  were  going  to  present  and  which  they  did  actually 
present  for  a  Catholic  priest  at  St.  Joseph's  like  the  Jesuits. 
The  outcome  of  it  all  was  that  they  were  given  a  Baptist 
missionary."  28 

The  Canadian  in  whose  house  Father  Richard  said 
Mass  on  this  occasion  was,  in  all  probability,  Jean 
Baptiste  Beaubien,  Indian  trader  and  agent  of  the 
American  Fur  Company  at  Chicago,  who  settled  there 
permanently  shortly  after  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre.29 
His  home  at  the  period  of  Father  Richard's  visit  was  in 
the  so-called  "Dean  House",  which  he  purchased  in 
1817  from  a  Mr.  Dean,  sutler  to  the  Fort,  and  which 
stood  south  of  that  structure  and  near  what  is  now 
the  intersection  of  Randolph  Street  and  Michigan  Ave- 
nue.30 Here,  then,  was  apparently  offered  up  the  first 
Mass  in  Chicago  after  it  had  become  a  settlement  of 
white  people.  As  to  the  discourse  preached  by  the  mis- 
sionary to  the  garrison,  it  may  safely  go  on  record  as 
the  first  sermon  preached  in  modern  Chicago.  The 
language  of  the  sermon  appears  to  have  been  English, 
as  the  soldiers  could  have  understood  no  other,  and  as 
Father  Richard,  though  a  native-born  Frenchman,  had 
learned  by  this  time  to  express  himself  with  more  or  less 
ease  in  the  tongue  of  his  adopted  country.31  Corrobor- 


28  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  3 :  342. 

29  The  precise  date  of  J.  B.  Beaubien 's  permanent  settlement 
in  Chicago  appears  to  be  open  to  dispute.    See  QUAIFE,  op.  cit., 
278. 

30  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1. 

31 A  statement  attributed  to  the  pioneer  Baptist  missionary, 
Isaac  McCoy,  is  interesting  in  this  connection.  "In  the  forepart 
of  October  I  attended  at  Chicago,  the  payment  of  an  annuity 
by  Dr.  Wolcott,  United  States  Indian  Agent,  and,  through  his 
politeness,  addressed  the  Indians  on  the  subject  of  our  mission. 
On  the  9th  of  October,  1825,  I  preached  in  English,  which,  as  I 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  31 

ative  evidence  on  this  latter  point  is  supplied  by  the 
fact  that  in  1823  the  missionary  was  elected  delegate  to 
Congress  from  Michigan  Territory,  being  the  only 
Catholic  priest  who  ever  held  a  seat  in  the  National 
House  of  Representatives.  It  is  significant  that  this 
priest,  who  was  the  first  clergyman  to  preach  the  word 
of  God  in  Chicago,  should  have  put  that  place  under 
other  obligations  to  him  by  rendering  it  services  of  a 
material  order — for  the  only  speech  he  made  in  Congress 
was  one  urging  the  opening  of  a  public  highway  between 
Chicago  and  Detroit.32 

Nine   years  were   to   pass  before   another   Catholic  Stephen 
priest  was  to  set  foot  in  Chicago.    In  October,   1830,  Badtn,i8ao 
Father   Stephen   Theodore   Badin,   the  first  priest   or- 
dained in  the  United  States,  made  a  missionary  excur- 
sion to  Chicago  from  the  Catholic  Potawatomi  Mission 
near  Niles,   Michigan,   of  which  establishment  he  was 
resident  pastor. 

"I  am  on  my  way  to  Chicago  or  Fort  Dearborn  on  the 
west  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  fifty 
miles  from  here;  no  priest  has  been  seen  there  since  eight 
[nine]  years  ago,  when  Mr.  Richard  paid  the  place  a  visit. 
Along  the  entire  route  I  shall  not  come  across  a  single  house 
or  hut.  I  am  waiting  here  for  a  party  of  good  Catholic  Indi- 
ans, Chief  Pokegan  at  head  of  them,  who  are  charged  with 
the  carrying  of  my  chapel  equipment.  I  had  started  out  with- 
out them  in  order  to  avail  myself  of  the  company  of  two 
Canadians,  whose  services  I  engaged  as  interpreters,  and  who 


am   informed,   was   the   first   sermon   ever   delivered   at   or   near 
that  place."    ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1:  288. 

32  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  art.  Rev,  Gabriel  Eichard.  Import- 
ant articles  on  Father  Eichard  are  to  be  found  in  the  volumes  of 
the  Collections  and  Researches  of  the  Michigan  Pioneer  and  His- 
torical Societv. 


32  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

must  by  this  time  have  arrived  in  Chicago,  where  I  intended 
to  celebrate  the  divine  mysteries  on  Holy  Rosary  Sunday; 
but  fearing  that  my  Indians  would  not  come  up  in  time,  I 
stopped  at  the  river  Calamic  [Grand  Calumet]  in  the  hope 
of  receiving  my  chapel  this  evening  or  tomorrow  morning. 
Besides,  if  I  had  continued  on  the  way  with  the  two  Canadians, 
I  should  have  found  it  necessary  to  sleep  in  the  open,  a  thing 
I  thought  nothing  of  at  one  time — but  when  a  man  is  beyond 
sixty,  he  must  avoid  that  sort  of  thing,  unless  he  be  accus- 
tomed to  live  like  the  Indians  and  traders,  to  whom  it  is  all 
one  whether  they  sleep  indoors  or  outdoors. 

Man  proposes,  God  disposes.  My  party  of  Indians  ar- 
rived three  days  too  late,  and  I  was  put  to  the  necessity  of 
spending  the  night  in  the  woods  ten  miles  from  Chicago.  I 
found  there  another  band  from  the  Kickapoo  tribe,  who  live 
in  an  immense  prairie  in  Illinois,  along  the  Vermilion  river 
at  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  miles  from  Chicago. 
Some  time  before  these  good  people  had  sent  their  compli- 
ments to  Chief  Pokegan,  telling  him  at  the  same  time  that 
they  envied  him  the  happiness  of  having  a  pastor."  33 

The  letter  of  Father  Badin  from  which  the  above 
passage  is  cited  is  silent  about  his  work  in  Chicago  on 
the  occasion  of  this  visit  of  1830.34  It  is  said  that  he 


33  Annalcs  do  la  Propagation  de  la  foi,  6 :   154. 

31  According  to  G.  S.  Hubbard  in  the  Chicago  Evening  Jour- 
nal, April  29,  1882,  Father  Badin  baptized  in  Chicago,  Alexander 
Beaubien  and  his  two  sisters  Monique  and  Julia  and  also  the 
mixed  blood  Potawatomi  chief,  Alexander  Robinson.  The  state- 
ment cannot  be  verified.  Though  the  name  of  Father  Theodore 
Stephen  Badin,  the  first  priest  ordained  in  the  United  States, 
has  found  its  way  into  some  accounts  of  early  Catholicity  in 
Chicago  as  that  of  the  first  clergyman  to  visit  the  place  after 
the  passing  of  the  early  Jesuit  missionaries,  a  diligent  sifting 
of  the  historical  evidence  bearing  thereon  fails  to  bring  the 
Father  mentioned  into  any  such  connection.  Unfortunately,  the 
baptismal  records  and  the  other  memoranda  covering  the  early 
period  of  Father  Badin 's  long  missionary  career  were  lost  or 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  33 

attended  the  town  more  than  once  from  his  Potawatomi 
Mission  on  the  St.  Joseph,  conducting  services  in  Fort 


destroyed  at  some  time  during  his  stay  with  the  Potawatomi  at 
the  Catholic  mission-center  near  Niles,  Michigan.  (Cf.  SPALDING, 
Si-etches  of  Early  Kentucky,  Preface).  That  Badin  was  in 
Chicago  in  1796  is  asserted  by  ANDREAS,  History  of  Chicago,  1: 
288,  and  by  HURLBURT,  Antiquities  of  Chicago,  382.  The  source 
of  the  assertion  may  be  traced  to  a  communication  to  the  Chicago 
Evening  Journal  for  April  29,  1882,  from  the  pen  of  Gurdon 
Saltonstall  Hubbard,  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  the  city. 
Therein  the  writer  declares  that  Father  Badin,  on  the  occasion 
of  a  visit  to  Chicago  in  1846,  presented  Mrs.  John  Murphy,  a 
resident  of  the  city  since  1836,  with  a  book  of  a  religious  char- 
acter containing  his  autograph,  saying  to  her,  ' '  this  is  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  my  arrival  in  Chicago."  This  obviously  would  fix 
the  date  of  Father  Badin 's  first  visit  to  Chicago  as  1796.  It  is 
difficult,  however,  to  reconcile  this  alleged  date  with  certain  well 
authenticated  circumstances  of  the  priest's  early  career.  Between 
the  years  1793  and  1819,  Father  Badin  was  a  missionary  in 
Kentucky,  nor  does  it  appear  that  he  made  an  extended  journey 
outside  of  the  state  at  any  time  during  that  period  except  once 
in  1806,  when  he  accompanied  Bishop  Flaget  on  an  episcopal 
visitation  to  Vincennes.  In  a  brochure  from  the  pen  of  Father 
Badin  published  in  Paris  in  1821  under  the  title  progres  de  la 
Mission  du  Kentucky  and  also  published  in  the  Annales  de  la 
Propagation  de  la  Foi  and  reproduced  in  an  English  translation  in 
the  Catholic  World  for  September,  1875,  the  writer  states  that  he 
was  the  sole  priest  in  Kentucky  from  April,  1794,  to  1797.  Dur- 
ing this  period  the  nearest  Catholic  clergyman  to  him  was  Rev. 
Mr.  Rivet,  stationed  at  Vincennes  on  the  Wabash  River,  with 
whom  he  exchanged  letters  but  whom  he  could  not  visit  owing 
to  the  demands  made  upon  his  time  by  the  scattered  Kentucky 
missions.  ' '  But  the  respective  needs  of  the  two  missions  never 
permitted  them  [Fathers  Badin  and  Rivet]  to  cross  the  desert 
in  order  to  visit  one  another  or  to  offer  mutual  encouragement 
and  consolation  in  the  Lord."  (Catholic  World,  21:  826).  If 
Father  Badin,  during  the  period  1794-1797  could  not  afford  a 
visit  to  his  fellow  priest  at  Vincennes,  ifc  seems  quite  improbable 


34  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Dearborn,  on  which  occasion  Mr.  Anson  Taylor  essayed 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  Mass-server;  but  no  record 


that  he  found  time  to  make  a  journey  of  at  least  twice  the 
distance,  such  as  would  bring  him  to  Chicago  or  what  was  to 
become  such.  Moreover,  it  is  significant  that  Father  Badin, 
though  he  comments  in  the  brochure  referred  to  on  the  hardships 
of  a  missionary's  life  in  early  Kentucky,  makes  no  mention 
therein  of  a  journey  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  in  1796, 
an  incident  highly  deserving  of  record,  had  it  taken  place,  nor 
does  Archbishop  Spalding  in  his  Kentucky  Sketches,  a  work  which 
supplies  many  additional  details  of  Father  Badin  'a  pioneer  days 
down  to  1826,  make  mention  of  any  missionary  journey  under- 
taken by  the  latter  in  that  direction.  Finally,  the  matter  appears 
to  be  put  beyond  dispute  by  Father  Badin 's  own  letters  written 
from  Kentucky  during  the  period  1796-1799,  in  which  he  makes 
absolutely  no  mention  of  any  journey  of  his  outside  the  state, 
but  on  the  contrary  declares  his  purpose  not  to  leave  his  parish- 
ioners for  any  great  length  of  time  for  fear  some  of  them  should 
die  without  the  sacraments.  Eecords  of  the  American  Catholic 
Historical  Society,  19:  258-275,  454-482.  It  is  impossible  there- 
fore, in  the  face  of  the  strong  available  evidence  to  the  contrary, 
to  accept  without  reserve  the  statement  that  Father  Badin  was 
in  Chicago  in  1796.  As  to  the  incident  referred  to  above  as 
occurring  between  Father  Badin  and  Mrs.  John  Murphy  some 
confusion  of  dates  in  the  reporting  of  it  would  seem  to  have 
occurred. 

In  the  case  of  Father  Badin 's  alleged  visit  to  Chicago  in 
1822,  the  evidence  to  the  contrary  is  more  direct.  (For  mention 
of  this  visit  cf .  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  art.  Archdiocese  of  Chi- 
cago;  also  MOSES  KIRKLAND,  History  of  Chicago  2:  303.  "He, 
[Father  Badin]  probably  never  made  this  point  [Chicago]  his 
home,  but  that  he  returned  in  1822  is  shown  by  an  authentic 
record  of  the  baptism  in  that  year  of  Alexander  Beaubien.  As 
far  as  known,  this  was  the  first  administration  of  the  sacrament 
to  any  white  person  within  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Dearborn." 
KIRKLAND.  In  a  letter  of  Father  Badin  descriptive  of  his 
missionary  labors  at  the  Potawatomi  mission  near  Niles,  Michigan, 
which  was  published  in  the  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la 


THE 


OF  Tii£ 


Father  Stephen  Theodore  Badin,  first  Catholic  priest  ordained 
in  the  United  States,  who  conducted  services  in  Chicago  in  Octo- 
ber, 1830.  From  an  engraving  preserved  in  Saint  Mary's  Sem- 
inary, Baltimore,  the  portrait  being  an  excellent  likeness  of  the 
subject  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Reverend  P.  P.  Denis, 
S.  S.,  a  personal  acquaintance  of  Father  Badin 's. 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  35 

of  any  visit  to  Chicago  other  than  the  one  mentioned 
above  is  to  be  found  in  his  published  letters.35    The 


Foi,  6:  154,  he  narrates  a  missionary  excursion  which  he  made 
to  Chicago  in  1830.  He  prefaces  his  account,  which  is  extremely 
meagre  in  details,  with  the  statement  that  no  Catholic  priest 
had  been  in  Chicago  since  Father  Gabriel  Richard's  visit.  This 
he  declares  to  have  taken  place  eight  years  previous  to  his  own 
visit  of  October,  1830.  (Father  Badin  is  in  error  here.  Father 
Richard's  visit  occurred  nine  years  before,  in  September,  1821. 
Cf.  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  La  Foi,  3:  342).  The  inference 
therefore  must  be  drawn  that  Father  Badin,  on  his  own  admission, 
was  not  in  Chicago  between  September,  1821,  and  October,  1830. 

As  to  the  authentic  record  of  the  baptism  of  Alexander 
Beaubien  by  Father  Badin  at  Chicago  in  1822,  to  which  Kirkland 
makes  reference  in  the  passage  cited  above,  no  evidence  that 
such  record  exists  has  come  to  hand.  EDWIN  O.  GALE  in  his 
Eeminiscences  of  Early  Chicago  and  Vicinity,  131,  gives  the  date 
of  Alexander  Beaubien 's  baptism  by  Father  Badin  as  1829.  ' '  His 
[Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien 's]  son,  Alexander,  who  was  born  here 
on  January  28,  1822,  claims  at  this  writing,  May  1900,  to  be  the 

oldest  living  person  born  in  the  place he  believes  himself 

to  be  the  first  child  baptized  in  this  vicinity.  Father  Stephen  T. 
Badin  was  a  Catholic  priest  who  came  to  Chicago  with  the  Indians 
from  St.  Joseph's  Mission  and  stopped  at  the  Colonel's  house, 
where  the  baptism  took  place  in  1829,  as  there  was  no  church 
in  Chicago  at  that  time." 

The  dates  1822  and  1829  for  the  alleged  baptism  of  Alex- 
ander Beaubien  by  Father  Badin,  besides  being  irreconcilable 
with  the  missionary's  certain  absence  from  Chicago  during  the 
period  1821-1830,  must  also  be  set  aside  through  evidence  fur- 
nished by  the  Baptismal  Eegisler  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Chicago, 
which  contains  an  entry  in  Father  St.  Cyr's  handwriting,  attesting 
the  baptism  on  June  28,  1834,  of  Alexander  Beaubien,  son  of 
Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien  and  Josette  Lafromboise. 

For  a  sketch  of  Father  Badin,  cf.  REV.  N.  J.  HOWLET  in 
Historical  Records  and  Studies,  U.  S.  Catholic  Historical  Society, 
4:  101  et  seq. 

35  Eeminiscences  of  Augustine   D.    Taylor,   Historical   Scrap- 


36 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 


Beaubien 


baptismal  and  marriage  records  of  his  early  missionary 
career  are  no  longer  extant,  having  been  lost  some  time 
during  his  stay  among  the  Potawatomi.  The  presence 
of  Chief  Pokegan  in  Father  Badin's  retinue  as  carrier 
of  the  altar  equipment  lends  an  interesting  touch  to 
the  missionary's  visit  to  Chicago  in  October,  1830.  Few 
more  appealing  portraits  of  Indian  virtue  are  on  record 
than  that  of  this  well  known  civil  chief  of  the  St.  Joseph 
Potawatomi,  whom  a  tradition,  more  picturesque  than 
authentic,  represents  as  having  rowed  the  Kinzies 
across  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  from  the  smoking 
ruins  of  Fort  Dearborn  to  a  place  of  safety  on  the  St. 
Joseph.36 

Chicago  was  incorporated  as  a  town  in  June,  1833, 
*ne  first  election  of  town-trustees  taking  place  in  August 
of  that  year.37  The  Catholics  in  and  around  the  place 


book,  Library  of  St.  Ignatius  College,  Chicago.  "Father  Badin 
would  come  here  to  celebrate  services  at  the  headquarters  of 
Col.  Whistler  in  the  garrison.  Anson  Taylor  would  try  to  assist 
him,  but  did  not  know  the  prayers." 

36  CHARLES  H.  BARTLETT,  Tales  of  Karikakee  Land.  The  sup- 
posed rescue  of  the  Kinzies  by  Pokegan  (Pokagon)  and  Tope-in- 
a-bee  furnishes  the  theme  of  one  of  these  stories  of  the  Potawa- 
tomi Indians  along  the  Kankakee  valley.  Interesting  side-lights 
on  the  character  of  Pokegan  will  be  found  in  the  Annales  de  la 
Propagation  de  la  Foi,  6:  154-165. 

a?  1  1  rr;he  cioge  Of  ^6  year  1833  found  Chicago  a  legally  or- 
ganized town.  Its  population  at  the  time  has  been  variously 
estimated  at  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  one  thousand.  No 
record  of  any  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  is  extant,  and  all 
statements  as  to  the  actual  population  at  that  time  are  estima- 
tions based  on  the  whims,  impressions  and  rumors  of  the  time.  It 
required  a  population  of  150  to  form  a  corporate  town  organiza- 
tion, and  it  is  but  probable  that  Chicago  had  more  than  the 
required  number.  Based  on  the  number  of  voters  (twenty-eight) 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  M 


Col.  Jean  Baptiste  Bcaubien,  picturesque  civilian  figure  in 
the  village  days  of  Chicago.  A  native  of  Detroit,  where  he  was 
born  in  1787,  he  settled  shortly  after  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre 
in  Chicago  and  there  took  up  and  followed  with  success  the 
occupation  of  Indian  trader.  In  1817  he  purchased  the  Dean 
house,  within  the  limits  of  the  Fort  Dearborn  reservation,  to 
which  tract  he  afterwards  laid  claim,  the  litigation  that  thereupon 
ensued  being  a  cause  celcbre  among  Chicago  land-suits.  The 
property  at  stake,  embracing  the  city-blocks  between  the  River, 
the  Lake,  Madison  and  State  Streets  represented  real-estate  hold- 
ings of  fabulous  value  today.  The  chain-of -title  of  the  Mont- 
gomery Ward  and  Company  property  at  Michigan  Avenue  and 
Madison  Street,  originally  (1839)  purchased  by  Father  O'Meara 
from  the  Government  as  a  second  site  for  Saint  Mary's  Church, 
includes  a  quit-claim  deed  from  Col.  Beaubien,  whose  claim 
to  the  Fort  Dearborn  reservation  was  in  the  end  definitely  re- 
jected by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 


EARLY    MISSIONARY   VISITORS  37 

numbered  at  this  time  about  one  hundred  and  thirty.  As 
the  total  population  of  the  town,  according  to  a  calcula- 
tion made  by  Andreas  on  the  basis  of  the  poll-list  of  the 
election  of  August,  1833,  did  not  exceed  140  at  that  date, 
the  Catholics  must  have  comprised  the  larger  part  of 
the  inhabitants.  The  majority  of  them  were  either  pure 
French  or  of  mixed  French  and  Indian  blood.  The  most 
conspicuous  figure  among  the  Chicago  Catholics  was 
Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien.  He  was  born  in  Detroit  of  a 
French-Canadian  family  settled  there  early  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  A  quick,  shrewd  intelligence,  com- 
bined with  a  good  address  and  a  fair  degree  of  educa- 
tion enabled  him  to  take  an  important  and  often  a 
controlling  part  in  public  affairs.  Probably  it  is  a 
testimony  to  his  standing  in  the  community  greater 
than  may  at  first  sight  appear  that  he  presided  in  the 
capacity  of  moderator  over  the  meetings  of  the  village 
debating  society,  the  first  organization  of  its  kind 
Chicago  knew.  His  claim  to  a  large  tract  of  land  on 
the  lake-front  in  Chicago,  the  same  on  which  he  had 
settled  as  early  as  1817,  though  allowed  by  the  State 
Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  was  rejected  by  the  Supreme 


at  the  first  election  and  allowing  a  population  of  5  to  each  voter, 
the  resident  population  was  140  in  August,  1833,  at  the  time  the 
first  election  was  held."  ANDREAS,  1:  129. 

The  petition  addressed  in  April,  1833,  by  the  Catholics  of 
Chicago  to  Bishop  Eosati  of  St.  Louis  declared  their  number  to 
be  100.  The  signers  of  this  petition,  together  with  the  members 
of  their  families,  actually  numbered  128.  Patrick  Shirreff,  an 
English  traveller  who  visited  Chicago  in  1833,  estimated  the 
number  of  houses  in  the  town  at  about  a  hundred  and  fifty; 
from  which  it  would  appear  that  Andreas 's  estimate  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  town  at  that  date  as  only  one  hundred  and  fifty 
is  considerably  below  the  mark.  See  QUAIFE,  op.  cit.,  349. 


38  THE   CAfTHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Court  of  the  United  States,  and  he  tasted  the  bitter 
experience  of  seeing  his  home  sold  over  his  head.38 


88  HURLBURT 's  Chicago  Antiquities,  pp.  302-326,  "Beaubi- 
eniana,"  contains  detailed  information  about  the  famous  "Beau- 
bien  Claim."  See  also  ANDREAS,  History  of  Chicago,  I,  for 
sketches  of  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien  (p.  84)  Mark  Beaubien 
(p.  106)  Alexander  Robinson  (p.  108)  and  Billy  Caldwell  (p. 
108).  The  Beaubiens  of  Detroit  were  conspicuous  in  the  early 
history  of  that  city.  The  Antoine  Beaubien  farm  of  over  three 
hundred  acres  included  the  ground  now  covered  in  part  by  the 
buildings  of  the  University  of  Detroit  and  until  recently  by  the 
Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart  on  Jefferson  Avenue,  the  site  and 
endowment  for  the  latter  being  a  gift  to  the  nuns  from  Antoine 
Beaubien.  An  idea  of  the  numerous  connections  of  the  Detroit 
Beaubiens  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  their  names  alone 
fill  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-pages  in  Father  Christian 
Denissen's  monumental  Genealogy  of  Detroit  French  Families, 
now  preserved  in  MS.  in  the  Burton  Historical  Collection  of  De- 
troit. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that  Colonel 
Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien  was  a  claimant  to  an  interest  in  the 
Antoine  Beaubien  farm  in  Detroit,  and  on  one  occasion  attempted 
to  institute  ouster  proceedings  against  property-owners  in  the 
district ;  but  he  was  as  unsuccessful  in  having  his  Detroit  claim 
allowed  by  the  courts  as  he  was  in  the  case  of  his  Chicago 
claims.  For  a  contemporary  protest  against  the  ejection  of 
Colonel  Beaubien  from  his  Chicago  home  on  Michigan  Avenue, 
within  the  limits  of  the  old  Fort  Dearborn  Reservation,  see  the 
Daily  American,  June  18,  1839  (Chicago  Historical  Collection). 
"Shall  the  veteran  citizen  who  has  resided  here  during  all  the 
horrors  of  savage  warfare,  who  has  undergone  all  the  privations 
and  vicissitudes  of  border  life  for  more  than  twenty  years — shall 
he  be  forced  to  seek  another  resting  place  for  his  aged  limbs? 
Shall  he  be  forced  to  provide  a  new  home  for  his  wife  and  little 
ones?  Shall  he,  the  hospitable  and  generous  old  man  whom  we 
all  know  and  respect  be  driven  from  a  little  remnant  of  the 
soil  for  which  he  fought  and  in  which  some  of  his  offspring 
repose  in  everlasting  sleep?  Justice,  humanity  and  Christian 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  39 

Mark,  a  younger  brother  of  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien,  Mark 
was  also  a  notable  figure  in  the  pioneer  stage  of  Chicago 
history.  He  came  to  the  place  in  1826  and  after  pur- 
chasing of  James  Kinzie  a  log-cabin  which  stood  on  the 
east  side  of  Market  Street  a  short  distance  south  of 
Lake  Street,  built  a  frame  addition  to  it  in  which  he 
opened  a  tavern  and  hotel.  The  hotel  bore  the  name 
of  the  Sauganash  in  honor  of  the  mixed-blood  Potawa- 
tomi  chief,  Billy  Caldwell,  to  whom  had  been  given  the 
soubriquet  of  Sauganash  or  Englishman.  Besides  the 
Beaubiens,  there  were  among  the  Catholic  residents  of 
Chicago  in  1833,  Antoine  Ouilmette,  a  settler  there 
since  1790  and  one  of  the  first  white  men  to  take  up 
his  residence  in  the  place;  Claude  and  Joseph  Lafram- 
boise,  traders  of  mixed  French  and  Indian  blood,  orig- 
inally from  Milwaukee;  Pierre  Le  Clerc,  (Pierish  Le 
Claire)  also  Indian  mixed-blood,  who  fought  in  the 
Fort  Dearborn  affair  and  in  his  capacity  of  interpreter 
arranged  the  terms  of  surrender;  and  Daniel  Bourassa, 
whose  cabin  stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  a  short 
distance  south  of  the  forks.39 


charity  forbid."  Beaubien 's  claim  rested  on  his  purchase  May 
28,  1835,  at  the  land  office  in  Chicago,  of  the  southwest  fractional 
quarter  of  section  10,  etc.,  a  tract  twenty-five  acres  in  extent, 
the  price  paid  being  $1.25  an  acre.  The  tract,  which  was  known 
as  the  Fort  Dearborn  Military  Eeservation,  comprised  the  land 
bounded  by  State  and  Madison  Streets,  the  river  and  the  lake. 
When  the  suit  was  decided  definitely  against  Beaubien,  he  was 
required  to  deliver  up  the  receipt  issued  to  him  by  the  Land 
Office,  the  purchase  money  being  thereupon  refunded  to  him.  In- 
teresting data  concerning  the  Beaubiens  will  be  found  in  the 
article,  The  Beaiibiens  of  Chicago,  by  Frank  O.  Beaubien,  son 
of  Mark  Beaubien,  in  the  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  "Review,  2: 
348-364. 


40  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Buiy  The  Chicago  Catholics  at  this  period  included  also 

Alexander  the  two  half-breed  Potawatomi  chiefs,  Billy  Caldwell 
Robinson  and  Alexander  Robinson.  They  were  widely  and  favor- 
ably known  as  loyal  friends  of  the  whites.  Though  not 
present  at  the  Fort  Dearborn  massacre,  they  are  said, 
though  the  truth  of  the  tradition  has  been  questioned, 
to  have  arrived  on  the  scene  the  day  following  and 
succeeded  by  their  influence  in  saving  the  lives  of  the 
Kinzies  and  others  who  had  escaped  the  fury  of  the 


39  Pierre  Le  Clerc  (Pierish  La  Clair  or  Le  Claire)  accom- 
panied his  Potawatomi  kinsfolk  to  the  Council  Bluffs  and  Kaw 
River  reserves.  According  to  Richard  Smith  Elliott,  Indian  Agent 
at  Council  Bluffs,  a  daughter  of  his  was  educated  at  the  Sacred 
Heart  Convent  in  St.  Louis.  Le  Claire  was  one  of  the  Potawa- 
tomi orators  that  went  to  Washington  in  1845  to  discuss  the 
cession  of  the  Iowa  reserve  to  the  Government.  ' '  Peerish  Le 
Claire,  in  Indian  lingo,  was  to  refer  to  some  former  treaties, 
the  promises  of  which  had  not  been  kept  by  the  government, 
and  was  to  expatiate  on  the  charms  of  the  country  about 
Chicago  where  the  frogs  in  the  marshes  sang  more  sweetly  than 
birds  in  other  parts, — a  land  of  beauty  which  they  had  ceded 
to  the  government  for  a  mere  trifle,  although  it  had  been  their 
home  so  long  that  they  had  traditions  of  Pierrot,  the  first  white 
man  who  ever  set  foot  upon  it  two  hundred  years  ago."  ELLIOTT, 
Notes  Taken  in  Sixty  Tears,  St.  Louis,  1883,  p.  208.  Le  Claire 
died  at  the  Kaw  River  reserve  March  28,  1849,  attended  in  his 
last  moments  by  a  Jesuit  priest  from  the  Catholic  Potawatomi 
Mission  of  St.  Mary's,  Kansas.  Le  Claire's  name,  with  those  of 
Joseph  Laframboise  and  Half  Day,  was  attached  to  a  petition 
addressed  to  the  government  in  1848  in  favor  of  the  establishment 
of  Catholic  schools  among  the  Potawatomi  of  the  Kansas  reserve. 
Files  of  the  Indian  Bureau,  Washington.  The  name  of  the 
Potawatomi  chief,  Half  Day,  is  borne  by  a  village  of  that  name 
on  the  Chicago-Libertyville  road. 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  41 

Indians  on  the  fateful  August  15,  1812.  Later  the  two 
chiefs  were  instrumental  in  restraining  the  Potawatomi 
from  participation  in  the  Winnebago  and  Black  Hawk 
wars.  Caldwell,  the  son  of  an  English  army  officer  and 
a  Potawatomi  woman,  was  attached  to  the  Indian  hero 
Tecumseh  in  the  capacity  of  secretary,  and  fought  with 
him  at  the  battle  of  Thames,  in  which  the  latter  per- 
ished. He  moved  with  his  Potawatomi  kinsfolk  to  the 
Council  Bluffs  reservation,  where  he  died  September  28, 
1841.  Alexander  Robinson  was  the  son  of  a  Scotch 
trader  and  an  Ottawa  woman.  He  married  in  1826 
Catherine  Chevalier,  daughter  of  the  chief  of  a  Potawa- 
tomi band,  on  whose  death  he  succeeded  to  the  chieftancy 
of  the  band.  He  received  from  the  government  a 
reservation  of  land  on  the  Desplaines  River,  where  he 
died  in  1872.40 


40  Alexander  Robinson 's  cabin  011  the  banks  of  the  Desplaines 
was  about  six  miles  north  of  Riverside,  Township  of  Leyden, 
Cook  County,  Illinois.  In  November,  1920,  the  forest  preserve 
district  of  Cook  County  acquired  title  to  eighty  acres  of  the 
original  Robinson  reserve,  the  price  paid  being  $12,600.  The 
Circuit  Court  gave  permission  to  Mrs.  Mary  Ragor,  a  daughter 
of  the  chief,  eighty-five  years  old,  to  continue  to  reside  on  the 
lands,  on  which  she  was  born.  The  chief's  two  daughters,  Cynthia 
and  Mary,  were  pupils  at  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  Academy,  Wabash 
and  Madison  Street,  in  the  early  'fifties.  "Among  the  pupils  of 
St.  Xavier's  Academy  and  boarding  School  in  the  days  that  I 
am  recalling,  were  the  daughters  of  Chief  Robinson  of  the  Pota- 
watomi tribe  of  Indians.  I  must  say  that  the  two  girls, — Cynthia 
and  Mary  Robinson  were  the  best  behaved  girls  in  the  school. 
They  were  in  every  way  a  credit  to  the  school.  The  chief  and  his 
wife  would  often  come  in  from  the  Reservation  at  Desplaines, 
in  1852,  and  stop  at  the  convent  all  night."  MRS.  B.  K.  GAR- 


42 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 


Catholics  other  than  those  of  French  or  Indian  stock 
were  few  in  Chicago v  in  1833.  The  most  prominent  of 
this  element  were  the  two  Taylors,  Anson  and  Augustine 
Deodat,  both  converts  from  Episcopalianism.  In  1832, 
Anson,  with  his  brother  Charles  H.,  built  at  Eandolph 
Street  the  first  bridge  over  the  Chicago  River,  the  Pota- 
watomi  Indians  defraying  one-half  of  the  expense. 
Augustine  Deodat  Taylor,  who  arrived  in  Chicago  in 
the  summer  of  1833,  was  an  architect  and  builder. 
His  was  the  distinction  of  erecting  the  first  four 
Catholic  churches  in  the  town,  St.  Mary's,  St.  Patrick's, 
St.  Peter's  and  St.  Joseph's. 

Chicago,  as  was  noted  above,  came  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown  on  the  erection  of 
the  latter  see  in  1808.  But  this  new  ecclesiastical  dis- 
trict was  too  vast  in  extent  to  be  administered  by  a 
single  hand  and  even  in  the  lifetime  of  Bishop  Flaget 
ten  dioceses  were  formed  out  of  its  territory.  By  ar- 
rangement with  that  prelate  and  Bishop  Rosati  of 
St.  Louis,  the  latter  was  given  the  power  of  Vicar- 
General  of  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown  for  the  "Western 
moiety  of  the  State  of  Illinois."41  This  arrangement 


RAGHAN,  'Reminiscences  of  Early  Chicago,  in  Illinois  Catholic 
Historical  'Review,  2 :  266.  See  also  in  the  same  Review,  2 :  357- 
361,  a  graphic  account  of  Robinson's  friendly  intervention  in 
favor  of  the  whites  during  the  Black  Hawk  War. 

41  The  Metropolitan  Catholic  Calendar  for  1834,  p.  95,  uses 
the  terms,  ' '  one-half  the  State  of  Illinois  acjolning  the  Missis- 
sippi River."  As  early  as  1818,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  arranged 
with  Bishop  Flaget  to  take  care  of  the  Catholic  settlements  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  SPALDING,  Life  of  Bishop 
Flaget,  177.  According  to  Rev.  John  Rothensteiner  (Illinois 
Catholic  Historical  Beview,  2:  412),  "the  impression  at  this  time 


EARLY   MISSIONARY   VISITORS  43 

appears  to  have  been  later  modified  so  as  to  bring  the 
northeastern  portion  of  Illinois  also  under  the  provi- 
sional jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  Ecclesi- 
astically, Chicago  thus  became  dependent  on  St.  Louis. 
Respectable,  prosperous,  with  a  population  of  10,000 
contrasting  with  Chicago's  paltry  150  and  with  almost 
seventy  years  of  recorded  history  to  look  back  upon, 
the  metropolis  of  Missouri  might  well  command  the 
attention  and  respect  of  the  mushroom  settlement  of 
yesterday  at  the  outlet  of  the  Chicago  River.  As  a 
circumstance  pointing  in  some  measure  to  the  greater 
importance  of  the  older  settlement,  it  may  be  noted  that 
some  of  the  pioneer  residents  of  Chicago  had  even  at 
this  early  date  found  their  way  to  St.  Louis  or  its 
vicinity.  We  have  seen  above  that  members  of  the 
Le  Mai  and  Pointe  de  Saible  families  of  Chicago  had 
their  children  baptized  in  St.  Louis  in  1799.  Again, 
Captain  John  Whistler,  who  established  Fort  Dearborn 
in  1803,  and  more  than  any  one  else,  in  the  opinion  of 
Quaife,  deserves  to  be  called  the  "Father  of  Chicago," 
was  later  stationed  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  St.  Louis, 


[1833]  was  that  Bishop  Rosati  desired  to  have  the  entire  state 
of  Illinois  placed  under  his  jurisdiction.  Bishop  Flaget  states 
that  'Bishop  Rosati  exercises  his  jurisdiction  upon  a  vast  tract 
of  the  Illinois,  but  he  has  never  determined  the  line  where  he 
ceases  exercising  his  administration.'  Baltimore  seemed  favorable 
to  his  claims.  But  Bishop  England  together  with  Bishop  Rese  of 
Detroit  and  Bishop  Dubois  of  New  York  formed  a  party  as 
against  the  followers  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  The  fact 
that  only  two-thirds  and  not  the  whole  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
was  placed  under  Bishop  Rosati  of  St.  Louis  in  1834  is  owing 
to  the  exertions  of  Bishop  England.  Of  course  all  were  working 
for  the  good  of  the  Church  as  they  saw  it." 


44  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

where  he  died  in  1829.42  To  cite  still  another  instance, 
Captain  Heald,  commandant  of  Fort  Dearborn  at  the 
time  of  the  massacre  and  the  central  figure  in  the 
tragedy,  was  later  a  resident  of  St.  Charles,  Missouri, 
some  twenty-five  miles  to  the  west  of  St.  Louis.43  But  we 
do  not  recall  any  instance  of  St.  Louis  people  at  this 
early  period  shifting  their  residence  to  Chicago. 


42  Cyclopedia  of  National  Biography,  6:  463.     The  name  of 
Major  William  Whistler,  son  of  Captain  John  Whistler,  is  signed 
to  the  1833  petition  of  the  Chicago  Catholics.     Three  children  of 

John  Whistler  and  Esther  Baillie,  the  former  a  son  of  Major 
William  Whistler,  were  baptized  by  Father  T.  O'Meara,  June  15, 
1838,  in  St.  Mary's  Church,  Chicago. 

43  QUAIFE,  op.  cit.,  405. 


TH£  ll& 

OF 


Father  John  Mary  Irenaeus  St.  Cyr,  1803-1883,  first  Catholic 
resident  priest  of  modern  Chicago.  From  a  photograph  of  date 
sometime  in  the  'seventies. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE   PASTORATE   OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR, 
1833-1834 


Under   the   impression   that  they   were   within   the   Petition  of 
bounds  of  his  spiritual  jurisdiction,  the   Catholics  of 
Chicago  addressed  themselves  to  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis 
when  they  resolved  in  1833  to  petition  for  a  resident 
pastor.    Their  petition  ran  as  follows : 

"We,  the  Catholics  of  Chicago,  Cook  Co.,  111.,  lay  before 
you  the  necessity  there  exists  to  have  a  pastor  in  this  new  and 
flourishing  city.  There  are  here  several  families  of  French 
descent,  born  and  brought  up  in  the  Roman  Catholic  faith 
and  others  quite  willing  to  aid  us  in  supporting  a  pastor,  who 
ought  to  be  sent  here  before  other  sects  obtain  the  upper 
hand,  which  very  likely  they  will  try  to  do.  We  have  heard 
several  persons  say  were  there  a  priest  here  they  would  join 
our  religion  in  preference  to  any  other.  We  count  almost 
one  hundred  Catholics  in  this  town.  We  will  not  cease  to  pray 
until  you  have  taken  our  important  request  into  considera- 
tion." i 


1  ANDREAS,  History  of  Chicago,  1 :  289.  The  following  signed 
the  petition,  the  figure  after  each  individual's  name  indicating 
the  number  of  persons  in  his  family :  Thomas  J.  V.  Owen,  10 ; 
J.  B.  Beaubien,  14;  Joseph  Laframboise,  7;  Jean  Pothier,  5; 
Alexander  Robinson,  8 ;  Pierre  Leclerc,  3 ;  Alexis  Laframboise,  4 ; 
Claude  Laframboise,  4 ;  Jacques  Chassut,  5 ;  Antoine  Ouilmet ; 
Leon  Bourassa,  3 ;  Charles  Taylor,  2 ;  J.  Bt.  Miranda  and  sisters, 
3 ;  Louis  Chevalier  and  family,  3 ;  Patrick  Walsh,  2 ;  John  Mann, 
4;  B.  Caldwell,  1;  Dill  Saver,  1;  Mark  Beaubien,  12;  Dill 
Vaughn,  1 ;  James  Vaughn,  1 ;  J.  Bt.  Babbie,  1 ;  J.  Bt.  Poulx ; 

45 


46  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

The  appeal  of  the  Catholics  of  Chicago  to  Bishop 
Rosati  reached  him  at  a  providential  juncture.  A  few 
days  before  it  came  into  his  hands,  he  Had  raised  to  the 
priesthood  a  young  Frenchman,  John  Mary  Irenaeus  St. 
Cyr,  whose  services  were  now  available  for  whatever 
corner  of  the  Lord's  vineyard  the  prelate  might  see  fit  to 
assign  him.  Accordingly,  under  date  of  April  17,  1833, 
Bishop  Rosati  signed  a  document  charging  Father  St. 
Cyr  with  the  spiritual  care  of  the  Catholics  of  Chicago.2 

J.  B.  Tabeaux,  1 ;  J.  Bt.  Durocher,  1 ;  J.  Bt.  Brodeur,  1 ;  Mathias 
Smith,  1 ;  Antoine  St.  Ours,  1 ;  Bazille  Desplat,  1 ;  Charles 
Monselle,  1 ;  John  Hondorf ,  1 ;  Dexter  Apgood,  1 ;  Nelson  Peter 
Perry,  1;  John  S.  C.  Hogan,  1;  Anson  H.  Taylor,  1;  Louis 
Francheres,  1 ;  a  total  of  122.  If  to  the  list  we  add,  the  entry 
on  the  reverse  side  of  the  petition,  "Major  Whistler's  family 
about  6"  the  total  becomes  128.  The  original  copy  of  the  peti- 
tion is  endorsed  with  these  dates  —  "Received  April  16,  1833. 
Answered  April  17,  1833."  The  above  list  has  been  compared 
with  the  original  document  (in  French)  in  the  St.  Louis  Arch- 
diocesan  Archives  and  inaccuracies  occurring  in  Andreas 's  version 
of  the  same  have  been  corrected. 

2  The  original  of  this  document  was  recently  presented  by 
Archbishop  Glennon  of  St.  Louis  to  Archbishop  Mundelein  of 
Chicago.  The  translation  cited  is  in  Andreas,  op.  cit.,  1:  290. 
Bearing  the  same  date  as  Bishop  Rosati 's  commission  to  Father 
St.  Cyr  is  a  letter  addressed  by  that  prelate  to  Bishop  Flaget. 
"Having  received  a  petition  "of  the  Catholics  of  Chicago,  who 
regarded  me  as  their  diocesan  bishop  and  demanded  of  me 
a  priest,  showing  the  danger  of  losing  a  concession  of  two 
thousand  acres  of  land  which  the  chiefs  of  the  Pottawatomies 
with  the  consent  of  the  government  have  made  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  by  virtue  of  the  powers  of  Vicar  General,  which  you 
have  given  me,  I  will  send  Mr.  St.  Cyr,  but  on  condition  that 
when  the  limits  of  the  diocese  are  fixed  I  can  recall  him. ' ' 
Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,  2:  412.  The  original  of  this 
letter,  in  French,  is  in  Bishop  Rosati 's  Letter-Book,  IX. 


Names  affixed  to  petition  of  the  Catholics  of  Chicago  to 
Bishop  Rosati  of  Saint  Louis  for  a  resident  priest.  On  the 
reverse  side  is  the  entry,  "Major  Whistler's  family,  about 
6. ' '  The  document  is  endorsed  in  Bishop  Rosati 's  hand- 
writing "Received  April  16,  1833.  Answered  April  17, 
1833."  Saint  Louis  Archdiocesan  Archives. 


OF 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834         47 

"Joseph  Rosati,  of  the  Congregation  of  Missions,  by  the 
grace  of  God  and  of  the  Apostolic  See,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis, 
to  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Irenaeus  St.  Cyr,  priest  of  our  diocese, 
health  in  the  Lord : 

Rev.  Sir:- — Whereas  not  a  few  Catholic  men  inhabiting 
the  town  commonly  called  Chicago,  and  its  vicinage,  in  the 
State  of  Illinois,  have  laid  before  me  that  they,  deprived  of 
all  spiritual  consolation,  vehemently  desire  that  I  shall  send 
them  a  priest,  wlio,  by  the  exercise  of  his  pastoral  gifts, 
should  supply  to  them  the  means  of  performing  the  offices 
of  the  Christian  religion  and  providing  for  their  eternal 
salvation :  wishing,  as  far  as  in  me  lies,  to  satisfy  such  a  de- 
sire, at  once  pious  and  praiseworthy,  by  virtue  of  the  powers 
of  Vicar-General  to  me  granted  by  the  most  illustrious  and 
most  reverend  Bishop  of  Bardstown  (Ky.),  I  depute  you  to 
the  Mission  of  Chicago  and  the  adjoining  regions  within  the 
State  of  Illinois,  all  of  which  have  hitherto  been  under  the 
spiritual  administration  of  the  said  most  illustrious  and  most 
reverend  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  [and  I]  grant  you,  until  re- 
voked, all  the  powers  as  described  in  the  next  page,  with  the 
condition,  however,  that  as  soon  soever  as  it  shall  become 
known  to  you  that  a  new  Episcopal  See  shall  have  been 
erected  and  established  by  the  Holy  Apostolic  See  from  the 
territory  of  other  sees  now  existing,  to  that  Bishop  within 
the  limits  of  whose  diocese  the  aforesaid  Chicago  mission  is 
included,  you  shall  render  an  account  of  all  those  things 
which  shall  have  been  transacted  by  you,  and  surrender  the 
place  to  such  priest  as  shall  be  by  him  deputed  to  the  same 
mission,  and  you,  with  God's  favor,  shall  return  to  our  dio- 
cese from  which  we  declare  you  to  be  by  no  means  separated 
by  this  present  mission. 

Given  at  St.  Louis  from  the  Episcopal  building,  the  17th 
day  of  April,  1833. 

JOSEPH, 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 

Jos.  A.  LUTZ;  Secretary." 

Father  John  Mary  Irenaeus  St.  Cyr  was  a  native  JToJ™*arv 

1.  &t.  C2/7* 

of   France,   having   been   born   November   2,    1803,    at 


48  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Quincie,  Canton  of  Beaujeu,  in  the  archdiocese  of 
Lyons.3  He  spent  four  years  at  an  elementary  school 
in  his  native  place,  and  seven  years  at  the  college  of 
Largentier.  Having  there  completed  his  classical  studies, 
he  entered  the  Grand  Seminary  of  Lyons,  where  he 
studied  philosophy  and  theology.  In  the  beginning  of 
June,  1831,  he  left  the  land  of  his  birth  for  America 
and  arrived  in  St.  Louis  in  August  of  that  year,  being 
one  of  the  first  clerical  recruits  secured  at  this  period 
for  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  through  the  agency  of  the 
French  Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith. 
Having  spent  eighteen  months  in  the  seminary  of  "the 
Barrens,"  Perry  County,  Mo.,  he  was  ordained  deacon 
in  1832  and  on  April  6,  1833,  was  raised  to  the  priest- 
hood by  Bishop  Rosati.  Twelve  days  later  he  set  out 
from  St.  Louis  for  his  new  field  of  labor  in  northern 
Illinois  in  company  with  Mr.  Anson  Taylor,  who  had 
been  dispatched  from  Chicago  to  serve  as  escort.4  A 
journey  of  twelve  days  brought  the  pair  to  Chicago, 

3  A  letter  of  Father  St.  Cyr's  to  the  Hon.  John  Wentworth 
of  Chicago,  written  in  the   early  eighties,   supplies  most  of  the 
data  embodied  in  the  sketch  of  the  priest  in  Andreas,  op.  cit.,  1. 
Historical  Scrap-Book,  Library  of  St.  Ignatius  College,  Chicago. 
A  number  of  documents  bearing  on  the  life  of  Father   St.  Cyr, 
including  certificates  of  baptism  and  holy  orders  are  reproduced 
in   the   Illinois   Catholic  Historical  Eeview,    1:    323-327.     Father 
St.  Cyr's  departure  for  Chicago  was  reported  in  the  Shepherd  of 
the  Valley,   (St.  Louis,  Mo.),  April  20,  1833. 

4  Bishop   Rosati 's  Private  Diary    (Ephemerides  Privatae)    in 
the  Saint  Louis  Archdiocesan  Archives  contains  this  entry  under 
date  of  April  18,  1833:    "Pransi  apud  PP.  Societatis  in  Collegio. 
D.   St.   Cyr   profectus   est   Chicag. "     "I   took   dinner   with  the 
Fathers  of  the  Society  [Jesuits]   at  the  College   [St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity].    Mr.  St.  Cyr  set  out  for  Chicago." 


Et.  Rev.  Joseph  Bosati,  member  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Missions  and  Bishop  of  Saint  Louis,  who  in  the  same  year,  1833, 
gave  Chicago  and  Kansas  City  their  first  resident  priests  in  the 
persons  respectively  of  Father  John  Mary  Irenaeus  St.  Cyr  and 
Father  Benedict  Eoux.  The  years  of  Bishop  Bosati 's  episcopate 
(1826-1843)  witnessed  a  vast  deal  of  missionary  effort  put  forth 
from  St.  Louis  for  the  upbuilding  of  Catholicism  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  and  beyond.  He  was  born  in  Italy  in  1789  and 
died  in  the  same  country,  at  Eome,  September  25,  1843. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834         49 

May  1,  1833.  About  a  month  later,  June  4,  Father 
St.  Cyr  made  his  first  report  to  Bishop  Rosati  on  the 
religious  outlook  in  the  new  field. 

"If  I  have  delayed  so  long  to  send  you  news,  you  may 
be  sure  that  this  is  not  owing  to  negligence  or  much  less  to    st-  Cyr  to 
any  lack  of  good  will  on  my  part.     The  fact  is  that  as  I  have    (jhi'0 
no  acquaintance  as  yet  with  the  people  of  Chicago  and  do  not    june  4, 1333 
know  how  they  stand  as  to  the  establishment  of  religion  in 
their  town,  I  have  wished  to  sound  them  a  little  to  the  end 
that  I  may  be  less  uncertain  as  to  what  to  say  to  you  about 
conditions  here  in  the  matter  of  religion. 

While  the  number  of  Catholics  is  large,  almost  all  of 
them  are  entirely  without  knowledge  of  the  duties  of  re- 
ligion. Still,  the  regularity  with  which  they  are  present  at 
Mass  every  Sunday  and  the  attention  and  respect  with  which 
they  assist  thereat,  give  reason  to  hope  that  with  patience 
and  some  Sunday  instructions,  we  shall  be  able,  with  God's 
help,  to  organize  a  congregation  of  good  Catholics.  Many 
Protestants,  even  of  the  most  distinguished  of  Chicago,  appear 
to  be  much  in  favor  of  the  Catholic  religion,  in  particular 
Mr.  Owen,  the  Indian  agent,  as  also  the  doctor  and  several 
other  respectable  families  who  come  to  Mass  every  Sunday 
and  assist  at  it  with  much  respect.5 

The  people  of  Chicago  have  taken  up  a  subscription 
amounting  to  261  dollars,  and  they  hope  to  go  even  some- 
what beyond  that.  Mr.  [Jean]  Baptiste  Beaubien  gives  a 
site  on  which  to  build  the  church.  However,  despite  all  the 
fair  prospects  held  out  in  every  way  by  this  town  of  Chicago, 


5  Thomas  Joseph  Vincent  Owen,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  U.  S. 
Indian  Agent  at  Chicago,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  first  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Town  of  Chicago,  and  by  the  board  elected 
first  president  of  the  same,  (an  office  corresponding  to  that  of 
mayor).  He  signed  his  name  to  the  petition  addressed  by  the 
Chicago  Catholics  to  Bishop  Rosati  in  April,  1833,  representing 
a  group  of  ten.  He  died  on  October  15,  1834,  and  his  funeral 
services  were  conducted  by  Father  St.  Cyr  according  to  the 
Catholic  rite.  St.  Mary's  Church  Records,  Chicago. 


50  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

despite  the  fine  promises  made  to  provide  the  priest  with 
everything  necessary  for  his  support,  despite  all  the  honor 
and  courtesy  and  marks  of  respect  with  which  the  residents 
of  the  place  received  me  and  which  they  continue  to  show 
me  daily  to  the  chagrin  of  the  Protestant  ministers,  I  should 
have  reason  to  complain,  Monseigneur,  were  you  not  to  send 
me  some  assistance  at  the  start  to  relieve  my  needs;  for  I 
should  not  have  money  enough  even  to  pay  postage  on  a 
letter  were  I  to  receive  one,  nor  do  I  know  how  I  am  going 
to  pay  the  transportation  charges  on  my  trunk,  when  it 
comes,  unless  I  have  some  help  from  you  beforehand.  I  cannot 
say  Mass  every  day,  as  I  should  like  to,  for  I  cannot  always 
obtain  the  wine  and  candles.  I  am  eager  to  go  to  St.  Joseph's, 
as  soon  as  [Rev.]  Mr.  Badin  shall  have  returned  from  Ken- 
tucky, but —  — .  It  is  true,  as  you  will  tell  me,  that  the 
Catholics  have  promised  to  furnish  everything  necessary  for 
the  support  of  the  priest.  Yes,  Monseigneur,  but  they  are 
going  to  start  to  build  a  little  chapel  and  a  presbytery  with 
money  contributed  by  them  for  the  purpose.  Therefore,  if 
the  money  contributed  falls  short  of  the  cost  of  the  buildings, 
I  shall  be  constantly  in  want. 

As  to  what  the  Indian  chiefs  are  reported  to  have 
promised  for  a  Catholic  church,  nothing  certain  is  known 
up  to  this;  we  must  wait  and  see  what  the  outcome  will  be 
of  the  treaty  that  is  to  take  place  next  fall. 

The  eagerness  shown  by  the  people  of  Chicago,  the 
Protestants  even,  to  have  a  Catholic  church,  allows  us  to 
place  great  hopes  in  the  future.  Every  Sunday  so  far,  I 
have  given  an  instruction  alternately  in  English  and  French. 
I  aim  particularly  to  remove  prejudices  by  showing  as  clearly 
as  possible  in  what  the  teaching  of  the  Church  consists.  In 
my  first  instruction  I  explained  the  meaning  of  the  invoca- 
tion of  the  saints,  the  difference  there  is  between  praying  to 
God  and  praying  to  the  saints,  the  meaning  of  the  venera- 
tion paid  to  images  and  relics  and  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
church  regarding  purgatory.  The  second  Sunday  I  preached 
in  English  on  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  I 
showed  its  necessity,  bringing  out  also  how  this  unity  is 
found  in  the  Catholic  Church.  On  Ascension  day  I  preached 


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THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834         51 

in  French  on  the  real  presence  and  afterwards  explained  in 
English  the  ceremony  of  the  Mass.  Pentecost  day  I  set  forth 
the  rapid  progress  of  the  gospel  throughout  the  world  and 
the  great  results  it  accomplished  in  reforming  morals  (this  in 
English).  On  Trinity  day  I  explained  in  French  the  symbol 
of  St.  Ambrose  on  the  Holy  Trinity  and  then  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  as  also  what  we  must  absolutely  know  and  believe  in 
to  be  saved.  I  tell  you  all  this,  Monseigneur,  not  to  show 
you  what  I  have  done,  but  that  you  may  see  whether  what  I 
have  done  is  right  or  wrong  and  that  I  may  learn  how  to 
proceed  in  the  future.  A  number  of  persons  have  approached 
the  tribunal  of  penance.  I  presume,  Monseigneur,  that  you 
put  some  books  in  my  trunk,  as  you  gave  me  to  understand 
at  my  departure.  Up  to  the  present  I  have  been  left  to  my 
own  resources.  I  should  like  exceedingly  to  have  some  in- 
structions in  English  or  French,  some  French  catechisms  and 
two  or  three  mission  hymns. 

To  give  you  some  idea  of  Chicago,  I  will  tell  you  that 
since  my  arrival  more  than  twentj^  houses  have  been  built, 
while  materials  for  new  ones  may  be  seen  coming  in  on  all 
sides.  The  situation  of  Chicago  is  the  finest  I  have  ever 
seen.  Work  is  now  proceeding  on  a  harbor  that  will  enable 
lake-vessels  to  enter  the  town.  Three  arrived  lately  crowded 
with  passengers  who  came  to  visit  these  parts  and  in  most 
cases  to  settle  down  here.  Everything  proclaims  that  Chicago 
will  one  day  become  a  great  town  and  one  of  commercial 
importance. 

I  have  performed  several  Baptisms ;  and  in  this  connec- 
tion, Monseigneur,  permit  me  to  ask  you  something:  Is 
Baptism  conferred  by  Baptist  ministers  valid?  It  is  laid 
down  in  theology,  as  far  as  I  can  remember,  that  the  ministers 
in  conferring  the  sacraments  must  have  the  intention  which 
the  Church  has;  but  Methodist  ministers  confer  Baptism,  not 
as  something  necessary  for  salvation,  but  as  a  ceremony  of 
the  Church,  and  consequently  they  have  not  the  intention 
which  the  Church  has,  for  she  intends  that  Baptism  be  con- 
ferred as  something  absolutely  necessary  for  salvation.."  6 


The  originals  of  Father  St.  Cyr  's  letters,  written  in  French, 


52  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Pioneer  Though  Father   St.    Cyr  inaugurated  the   Catholic 

ChurckeT  ministry  in  Chicago  in  good  season,  the  Protestant  de- 
nominations had  been  in  the  field  at  a  still  earlier  date. 
The  Rev.  William  See  and  after  him  the  Rev.  Jesse 
Walker,  both  ordained  ministers  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  conducted  services  in  Chicago  before  1832. 
The  latter  had  for  his  meeting  place  a  log-building  popu- 
larly known  as  ' '  Father  Walker 's  Log-Cabin ' '  and  situ- 
ated at  Wolf  Point  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  at  about 
the  intersection  of  the  present  Kinzie  and  Canal  streets. 
Mr.  See,  besides  preaching  the  Gospel,  plied  the  trade 
of  a  blacksmith.  Mrs.  Kinzie 's  Wau-bun,  a  well-known 
book  portraying  scenes  from  the  pioneer  history  of 
Chicago,  records  the  impression  produced  on  her  by 
one  of  Mr.  See's  sermons.  The  first  Protestant  church 
organization,  that  of  the  Presbyterians,  was  formed 
in  June,  1833,  by  the  Reverend  Jeremiah  Porter,  an 
army  chaplain,  who  arrived  at  Fort  Dearborn  on  May 
13  of  the  same  year,  twelve  days  after  the  arrival  of 
Father  St.  Cyr.  The  Baptists  organized  a  church  in 
October  of  the  same  year.  Thus  the  year  1833  saw 
church  organizations  regularly  established  in  Chicago 
for  the  first  time,  three  churches,  Catholic,  Presbyterian 
and  Baptist  being  founded  during  that  year;  the  first 
in  May,  the  second  in  June  and  the  third  in  October. 


are  preserved  in  the  St.  Louis  Archdiocesan  Archives.  Those 
dated  from  Chicago  are  about  fifteen  in  number,  are  addressed 
in  each  instance  to  Bishop  Eosati  of  St.  Louis  and  record  the 
writer's  impressions  and  experiences  as  he  was  engaged  in  the 
work  of  building  the  first  church  and  organizing  the  first  Catholic 
parish  in  Chicago.  For  the  story  of  pioneer  Catholicity  in  that 
great  city  they  constitute  the  most  interesting  and  valuable  doc- 
umentary material  extant. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834        53 

The  Temple  building,  near  the  corner  of  Franklin  and 
South  Water  streets,  was  erected  by  a  Dr.  Temple,  as 
a  meeting-place  for  the  various  Protestant  denomina- 
tions before  they  had  churches  of  their  own.  It  was 
opened  for  service  in  August,  1833,  and,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  "Father  Walker's"  log-cabin,  was  the  first 
building  erected  in  Chicago  for  religious  worship.7 

Towards  the  end  of  June,  1833,  Father  St.  Cyr 
again  addressed  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis: 

"I  received  my  trunk  at  last  on  the  eighteenth  of  this   St.  Cyr  to 
month.     That  it  was  so  long  on  the  way  was  not  any  fault  of   Rosatl> 
Mr.  St.  Cyr,  who  was  pleased  to  charge  himself  with  the  task 
of  having  it  forwarded  to  me,  but  was  owing  to  the  fact  that 
when  he  arrived  at  Hotway  [Ottawa],  he  found  the  water  too 
low  to  enable  him  to  proceed  by  river  as  far  as  Chicago,  and 
was  obliged  to  take  another  route,  by  land,  to  his  destination 
at  Mackina  [w].     My  trunk  accordingly  remained  at  Hotway 
[Ottawa]   until  the  eighteenth  of  this  month. 

I  am  very  much  surprised  that  the  Missal  was  not  found, 
for  the  third  book  I  came  to  when  I  opened  my  trunk  was 
the  Missal  [?].  And  what  I  told  you  in  my  first  letter,  Mon- 
seigneur,  happened  to  me  just  so,  namely,  that  I  shouldn't 
have  money  enough  to  pay  for  the  transportation  of  my  effects. 
This  cost  me  two  dollars  and  a  half  and  these  I  had  to  borrow 
from  Mr.  Beaubien,  who  shows  me  every  kindness  imaginable. 

I  have  received  a  letter  from  [Rev.]  Mr.  Deseille,  who  is 
at  St.  Joseph  in  [Rev.]  Mr.  Badin's  place;  he  urges  me  to  go 
to  St.  Joseph,  but  this  is  impossible  as  I  have  not  a  penny 
with  which  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  Journey.8  I  beg  you, 


7  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  289,  315. 

8  Father  Deseille  was  missionary  to  the  Potawatomi  Indians 
of   Northern  Indiana  and   Southern   Michigan  from   1833   to   his 
death  in   1837.     As  no  priest  could  reach  him  in  his  dying  mo- 
ments,  he   dragged   himself   to   the   altar   of   his   humble   chapel, 
opened  the  tabernacle  door  and  communicated  the  sacred  species 


54  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Monseigneur,  to  send  me  a  little  money  to  relieve  my  present 
needs.  Perhaps  the  future  shall  find  me  better  off  in  this 
respect. 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  people  should  provide  for  all 
my  needs;  they  have  promised  to  do  so.  If  I  can  have  from 
them  the  wherewithal  to  build  a  little  chapel,  I  shall  consider 
myself  very  fortunate  and  I  hope  that  with  the  grace  of  God 
and  the  assistance  of  charitable  souls,  our  Divine  Savior  will 
have  a  temple  in  Chicago  where  he  will  dwell  continually  in 
the  midst  of  us  by  his  real  presence  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
of  the  Altar. 

Our  subscription  for  the  church  amounts  now  to  332 
dollars;  but  according  to  the  building  plans  agreed  on,  we 
shall  need  five  hundred  dollars.  It  will  be  36  feet  long,  24 
wide  and  12  high. 

As  to  the  land  which  the  Indian  chiefs  are  reported  to 
have  promised,  we  cannot  count  on  it,  seeing  that  [Rev.]  Mr. 
Baclin,  to  whom  the  Indians  made  the  promise,  did  not  fulfill 
the  conditions  of  the  contract  in  virtue  of  which  the  Indians 
offered  to  give  a  certain  amount  of  land  toward  the  building 
of  a  Catholic  church,  for  their  own  use,  however. 

Another  thing  which  causes  me  much  pain.  I  cannot  say 
Mass  during  the  week,  or  rarely  so,  for  lack  of  the  necessary 
articles. 

But,  Monseigneur,  I  must  tell  you  in  all  sincerity  that 
this  mission  holds  out  the  fairest  hopes  for  the  future  and 
that  to  abandon  it  for  lack  of  some  little  assistance,  of  some 
small  sacrifices,  would  be  a  great  loss  for  religion,  a  loss  all 
the  greater  and  more  certain  now  that  a  Presbyterian  minister 
arrived  in  Chicago  from  some  other  place  a  few  days  ago.9 


to    himself   as   viaticum.      See    The   story   of  fifty   years,   p.    19. 
(Notre  Dame  Press). 

9  This  was  apparently  the  Eev.  Jeremiah  Porter,  founder  of 
the  first  Presbyterian  Church  of  Chicago,  who  arrived  in  the 
city  on  May  13.  His  Journal,  which  appeared  in  the  Chicago 
Times  in  1877,  has  this  reference  to  Father  St.  Cyr:  "The  first 
priest  residing  here  was  Father  St.  Cyr  with  whom  I  had  some 
friendly  interviews  in  my  study  which  I  had  built  near  my 


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THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834        55 

Many  Protestants,  even  of  the  most  respectable  families  of 
Chicago,  would  return  to  their  first  religion,  or  rather  would 
remain  in  their  errors,  as  being  without  any  means  of  em- 
bracing the  Catholic  religion. 

I  have  performed  eight  baptisms  in  Chicago  and  must 
go  to  the  Fox  river  to  perform  some  more. 

You  cannot  believe,  Monseigneur,  how  much  good  could 
be  done  for  religion  in  these  vast  prairies  were  a  priest  to 
visit  from  time  to  time  the  families  who  are  scattered  here  and 
there,  abandoned  to  themselves  in  everything  that  concerns 
religion  and  their  eternal  salvation. 

Even  the  Indians,  the  poor  Indians,  are  not  indifferent 
towards  our  holy  religion ;  they  earnestly  wish  to  have  a  black- 
robe.  I  have  made  the  acquaintance  of  three  of  the  principal 
chiefs,  all  three  Catholics.  Two  of  them  in  particular,  who 
remained  some  days  in  Chicago,  edified  me  by  their  great 
faith.  Before  sitting  down  at  table,  whether  others  were 
present  or  not,  they  prayed  for  a  space  of  almost  five  min- 
utes, and  three  times  every  day  they  came  to  my  room  to  say 
their  prayers  which  consisted  of  a  Pater  and  an  Ave,  to  thank 
God  for  having  given  them  life  and  the  means  to  support  life 
and  to  pray  for  their  benefactors.  I  showed  them  a  large 
crucifix  and  explained  to  them  with  the  aid  of  an  interpreter 
what  our  Lord  had  done  and  suffered  to  save  us  from  hell  and 
give  us  heaven.  They  remained  motionless  for  a  while,  with 
their  eyes  fixed  on  the  crucifix,  and  looking  at  it  with  an  air 
of  piety  and  compassion,  which  showed  they  had  a  lively 
realization  of  what  they  saw.  Then  they  broke  the  silence 
by  prayers  which  they  recited  at  the  foot  of  the  crucifix, 


boarding  house  on  the  lot  on  the  corner  of  Lake  and  La  Salle 
Street,  on  which  the  Marine  Bank  now  stands ;  a  canal  lot,  not 
on  market  then  but  valued  at  about  $200,  and  now  worth  in  the 
neighborhood  of  $200,000.  St.  Cyr  presented  me  with  a  little 
book  entitled,  'A  Papist  Represented  and  Misrepresented,'  which 
I  shall  retain  as  a  memento  of  the  infant  days  of  our  churches. 
When  I  went  to  sympathize  with  Mrs.  Hamilton  in  the  death 
of  her  brother  Buckner,  I  found  the  priest  had  preceded  me 
in  attempting  to  comfort  the  woman." 


56  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

shedding  at  the  same  time,  torrents  of  tears.  Non  vidi  tantam 
fidem  in  Israel.  [I  have  not  seen  such  great  faith  in  Israel.] 
I  could  not  refrain  from  weeping  with  them.  They  told  us 
that  they  prayed  to  God  three  times  every  day,  whether  jour- 
neying or  at  home,  and  that  they  spent  every  Sunday  singing 
praises  of  Him  who  died  for  the  whites  and  poor  Indians 
alike.  What  a  beautiful  harvest,  Monseigneur !" 

On  September  26,  1833,  the  Potawatomi,  or,  as  they 
were  officially  designated,  the  "United  Nation  of  the 
Chippewa,  Ottawa  and  Potawatomie  Indians,"  con- 
cluded at  Chicago  a  treaty  according  to  the  terms  of 
which  they  sold  to  the  government  the  remnant  of  their 
holdings  in  Michigan,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  receiving  in 
consideration  of  the  same  one  dollar  per  acre,  and,  in 
addition,  a  grant  of  5,000,000  acres  of  land  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Missouri  River.  To  this  new  home,  repre- 
sented roughly  on  the  map  of  today  by  the  southwestern 
counties  of  the  state  of  Iowa  bordering  on  the  Mis- 
souri, the  Indians  agreed  to  move  immediately  on  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty.10  Father  St.  Cyr  had  the 


10  The  text  of  the  Chicago  treaty  of  1833  is  in  KAPPLER, 
Indian  Affairs  and  Treaties,  2 :  402.  A  discussion  of  its  terms 
and  the  circumstances  which  attended  its  signing  may  be  read 
in  QUAIFE,  op.  cit.,  348-368,  who  arraigns  severely  the  whole 
transaction.  To-pe-ne-be  and  Pokegan,  the  two  principal  chiefs 
of  the  St.  Joseph  Potawatomi  and  Wah-pon-seh  (Waubansee, 
another  chief  of  the  Potawatomi  of  the  Woods)  went  to  Wash- 
ington in  the  fall  of  1834  to  protest  against  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty.  Owens  to  Cass,  November  17,  1834.  The  Files  of 
the  Indian  Bureau,  Washington,  contain  a  protest  from  Pokegan, 
signed  at  Pokegan  Village,  (Michigan)  January  25,  1835,  against 
the  ratification  of  the  ' '  deceitful  treaty. ' '  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Potawatomi  living  west  of  Lake  Michigan  appear  to  have 
acquiesced  fully  in  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  "The  Prairie  and 
Lake  Indians  recognize  Caldwell,  Robinson  and  (Joseph)  La- 


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THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834        57 

satisfaction  of  celebrating  Mass  for  the  Catholic  Indians 
assembled  at  Chicago  on  the  occasion  of  this  treaty  of 
1833. 

"The  last  post,"  Father  St.  Cyr  writes  to  Bishop  Rosati,    St.  Cyr  to 
September  16,  1833,  "brought  me  your  letter  in  which  were    Rosati> 
enclosed  two  others,  one  addressed  to  Mr.  J.  B.  Beaubien  and 
the  other  to  Mr.  Robert  Stuart.    I  have  delivered  each  one  to 
its  address.11    Both  gentlemen  offered  very  willingly  to  pay 
me  the  fifty  dollars;  but  I  shall  receive  the  money  only  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  treaty  which  began  last  Saturday  and  will 


fromboise  as  their  principal  men,  in  whom  they  have  unlimited 
confidence  and  in  whose  decision  in  all  matters  relating  to  their 
people  they  fully  acquiesce;  and  to  use  their  own  language, 
they  wish  their  great  Father,  the  President,  and  Secretary  of 
War  to  permit  no  interference  with  the  treaty  of  Chicago  so 
far  as  it  relates  to  the  country  ceded  west  of  Lake  Michigan." 
Thomas  J.  V.  Owen,  Indian  Agent  at  Chicago,  to  Lewis  Cass, 
Secretary  of  War,  November  17,  1834.  Files  of  the  Indian 
Bureau,  Washington.  In  this  same  documentary  depositary  is 
the  hitherto  unpublished  official  ' '  Journal  of  the  proceedings  of 
a  Treaty  between  the  United  States  and  the  United  Tribe  of 
Potawatomies,  Chippeways  and  Ottawas, "  a  source  to  be  drawn 
upon  when  the  history  of  the  Chicago  treaty  of  1833  is  adequately 
written  up.  One  passage  from  the  Journal  is  pertinent  here. 
"  Way-mich-soy-go.  When  you  called  us  into  council  at  Prairie 
du  Chien  [1829]  we  were  troubled  and  knew  not  what  to  do. 
We  then  appointed  these  men  (pointing  out  Caldwell  and  Eobin- 
son)  our  chief  counsellors.  We  are  one  flesh,  they  have  been 
raised  amongst  us.  So  long  as  they  live,  they  were  chosen  to 
manage  our  business.  Whatever  they  say  and  do  we  agree  to. 
They  will  take  time  and  council  together  and  determine  what  shall 
be  done." 

11  Robert  Stuart  was  agent  for  the  American  Fur  Company 
of  Chicago  and  one  of  the  controlling  figures  in  the  affairs  of 
that  powerful  concern. 


58  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

finish  the  middle  of  next  month.  At  this  treaty  a  decision  will 
be  reached  as  to  whether  we  are  to  get  the  lands  which  the 
Indian  chiefs  promised  to  give  towards  the  support  of  a 
Catholic  establishment  in  their  midst.  More  than  1,000  Indians 
are  gathered  here  for  the  payment.  Yesterday  I  said  Holy 
Mass  four  miles  from  Chicago  before  a  congregation  of  con- 
verted Indians  recommended  to  me  by  their  pastor  [Rev.]  Mr. 
Deseille,  who  could  not  accompany  them  to  the  treaty,  as  he 
is  the  only  priest  at  St.  Joseph. 

Besides  the  Catholic  Indians  of  St.  Joseph,  a  great  many 
other  Indians  from  Mackina[w]  and  Green  Bay  assisted  at 
Mass.  They  had  arranged  a  pretty  altar  under  a  tent.  Their 
modesty,  their  good  behavior  during  the  most  Holy  Sacrifice 
and  their  respect  for  priests  touched  and  edified  me  exceed- 
ingly. The  Catholics  of  Chicago,  together  with  those  from 
St.  Joseph  who  came  to  attend  the  treaty,  gathered  there  in 
great  numbers  to  hear  Mass.  The  Catholics  sang  French  hymns 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Mass.  Then  the  Indians  sang  the 
Credo  in  their  own  language,  but  to  the  same  air  to  which 
*?e  sang  it,  and  they  sang,  besides,  a  number  of  beautiful 
hymns. 

Three  carpenters  are  working  at  present  on  my  little 
chapel.  I  hope  it  will  be  finished  by  Sunday  or  at  least  during 
the  oourse  of  the  following  week. 

1  saw  Mr.  Menard  on  Saturday.12  He  gave  me  a  letter 
for  you.  So  far,  I  have  not  received  the  books  you  were  so 
good  to  send  me.  I  hope  to  receive  them  today,  as  soon  as 
Mr.  Menard's  effects  shall  have  arrived  here. 

Monseigneur  Reze  spent  a  little  while  here  on  his  return 
from  Green  Bay.  He  gave  me  ten  dollars  for  my  church  and 


12  Pierre  Menard,  Sr.,  of  Kaskaskia,  111.,  was  the  first  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois  and  a  foremost  figure 
in  the  early  political  life  of  the  commonwealth.  He  held  the 
title  at  one  time  to  valuable  North  Side  property  in  Chicago 
subsequently  acquired  by  the  Kinzies.  For  a  sketch  of  Pierre 
Menard,  Sr.,  see  MOSES,  Illinois  Historical  and  Statistical,  1 :  289 ; 
also,  MASON,  Early  Chicago  and  Illinois. 


Mark  Beaubien,  brother  of  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien.  He  came  to 
Chicago  in  1826  from  Monroe,  Michigan,  and  was  for  a  time  proprietor  of 
the  Sauganash  Hotel  at  Market  and  Lake  Streets,  where  he  gave  hospitality 
to  Father  St.  Cyr  on  the  latter 's  arrival  in  Chicago  in  1833.  From  a  minia- 
ture loaned  to  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  by  Mrs.  Emily  Lebeau, 
daughter  of  Mark  Beaubien. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834         59 

ten  dollars  for  myself.  His  visit  was  extremely  short  as  the 
steamboat  left  the  same  day  it  arrived." 

I  received  fifteen  days  ago  a  letter  from  Monseigneur 
Flaget  in  which  he  announces  the  death  of  two  of  his  priests 
and  of  four  religieuses. 

There  is  no  particular  sickness  except  bilious  fever,  which, 
however,  has  not  been  dangerous.  I  had  an  attack  of  it  myself 
for  fifteen  days. 

I  buried  last  week  a  little  child,  which  I  had  baptized 
only  a  short  time  before. 

There  is  no  news  which  might  interest  you,  Monseigneur, 
apart  from  the  extraordinary  growth  of  Chicago,  which  only 
a  little  ago  was  nothing  but  a  small  village.  Now  there  is  a 
street  a  mile  long  [Lake  Street]  and  soon  there  will  be  two 
others  of  the  same  length.  But,  unfortunately,  piety  will  not 
flourish  any  more  on  that  account. 

The  mention  made  by  Father  St.  Cyr  in  the  preced- 
ing  letter  of  the  Potawatomi  treaty  of  1833  and  of  the 
Catholic  services  conducted  on  that  occasion  before  the 
assembled  Indians  recalls  the  fact  that  the  Potawatomi 
had  a  direct  share  in  the  first  formal  organization  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago.  A  communication  from 
Mr.  Thomas  J.  V.  Owen,  U.  S.  Indian  Agent  at  Chicago, 
to  Mr.  Ansoii  H.  Taylor  under  date  of  April  4,  1833, 
declared  that  "at  the  petition  of  the  principal  chiefs  of 
the  Potawatomi  tribe  of  Indians  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  permission  was  given  them  to  donate 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  four  sections  of  land  on 
the  Desplains  or  Chicago  River  near  the  town  of  Chi- 
cago, for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  seminary  of 


13  Monsignor  Frederick  Rese  [Eeze]  was  at  this  time  Bishop- 
elect  of  the  newly  founded  diocese  of  Detroit.  He  was  con- 
secrated in  Cincinnati,  October  6,  1833,  three  weeks  after  his 
visit  to  Chicago.  He  resigned  his  episcopal  charge  in  1837  and 
returned  to  Europe. 


60  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

learning.14"  The  intention  of  the  Indians  to  subsidize  a 
Catholic  school  or  college  by  a  grant  of  land  from  their 
extensive  holdings  was,  for  some  unknown  cause,  never 
embodied  in  the  treaty  of  1833,  and  on  that  account 
no  advantage  ever  accrued  from  it  to  Father  St.  Cyr 
or  his  successors.  Further  testimony  to  the  good  will 
of  the  Potawatomi  to  the  Catholic  Church  was  the  cir- 
cumstance already  noted  that  the  petition  of  April, 
1833,  on  the  part  of  the  Catholic  residents  of  Chicago 
for  a  resident  priest,  addressed  to  Bishop  Rosati,  was 
signed  by  the  two  Potawatomi  chiefs,  Billy  Caldwell 
and  Alexander  Robinson  and  by  numerous  persons  of 
mixed  French  and  Indian  blood,  like  the  Laframboises 
and  Chevaliers.  Moreover,  it  was  with  the  help  of 
Indian  women  that  Father  St.  Cyr's  church  was  swept 
and  put  in  order  in  preparation  for  the  first  services 
and  the  humble  place  of  worship  often  echoed  to  the 
hymns  which  the  Indians  were  taught  to  sing.15 


14  St.    Louis   Archdiocesan    Archives.      The   Shepherd   of   the 
Valley,    (St.    Louis,    Mo.),    January,    1834,    has    the    following: 
"A    letter    recently    received    from    Chicago,    111.,    states    that 
the    Indians    near    that    place    have    received    a    large    tract    of 
land  for  the  purpose   of   establishing   a  Catholic  mission   among 
them,  and  are  only  waiting  the  arrival  of  a  priest  to  commence 
erecting    a    mission    house    and    church. ' '     Governor    Porter    of 
Michigan,   one    of    the   three    commissioners    who    negotiated   the 
treaty  of  1833,  assured  Father  Badin  that  the  petition  for  four 
sections  of  land  would  meet  with  success.     Badin  to  Bishop  Eeze, 
October    31,    1833,    Files    of    the    Indian    Bureau,    Washington. 
Bishop  Reze  in  October,  1834,  was  still  seeking  information  re- 
garding the  fate  of  the  four  sections. 

15  Recollections   of   Augustine   D.   Taylor.     Historical   Scrap- 
Book  in  Library  of  St.  Ignatius  College,  Chicago.    The  name  and 
date  of  the  newspaper  cannot  be  identified. 


Anson  H.  Taylor,  builder  with  his  brother  Charles  H.  Taylor 
of  Chicago's  first  bridge  (1832),  which  was  of  trestlework  and 
spanned  the  river  between  Lake  and  Randolph  Streets.  He  had 
come  to  Chicago  in  1829.  A  convert  from  Episcopalianism,  he 
journeyed  to  Saint  Louis  in  the  Spring  of  1832  to  escort  Father 
St.  Cyr  to  Chicago  and  the  following  Summer  hauled  with  his 
own  team  the  lumber  which  his  brother,  Augustine  Deodat  Taylor, 
used  in  the  construction  of  the  first  Saint  Mary 's  Church.  He  died 
in  his  seventy-third  year  at  Lakeside,  Cook  County,  Illinois, 
May  9,  1878.  From  a  photograph  in  the  possession  of  his  daugh- 
ter, Miss  Monica  Taylor,  of  Hubbard  Woods,  Illinois. 


THE 


OF  Tti£ 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834         61 

Father  St.  Cyr  said  the  first  Mass  in  the  new  church 
in  October,  1833,  for  the  Catholic  Indians,  300  in  num- 
ber, who  had  come  to  Chicago  from  South  Bend  for 
their  annunities.  Work  on  the  structure  had  been  fin- 
ished by  its  builder,  Augustine  Deodat  Taylor,  only 
the  day  before  and  the  Indians  began  at  once  to  sweep 
and  clean  the  little  place  of  worship  in  preparation  for 
the  opening  services.  The  church,  however,  was  still 
unplastered,  and  as  there  was  no  prospect  of  collecting 
additional  money  from  the  people  of  Chicago,  who  had 
contributed  to  the  limit  of  their  means  in  defraying  the 
initial  expense,  Father  St.  Cyr  determined  to  solicit  aid 
from  the  Catholics  of  St.  Louis.  He  wrote,  November 
23,  to  Bishop  Rosati: 

"For  over  a  month  my  little  chapel  has  been  finished  in    St.  Cyr  to 

a  manner  decent  enough  to  enable  us  to  say  Mass  without  in-    Rosatl> 

&  i     j  ^  November  88, 

convenience  every   Sunday  and  week  day  up  to  the  present.    18S3 

But  the  cold  which  is  now  beginning  to  make  itself  felt  more 
keenly  over  these  vast  prairies  makes  the  chapel  almost  unin- 
habitable, for  it  is  still  unplastered.  The  impossibility  of  say- 
ing Mass  in  it  during  the  winter  as  also  the  impossibility  of 
having  it  plastered  owing  to  the  slender  means  at  present  at 
our  disposal,  make  it  necessary  for  me  to  go  down  to  St. 
Louis  to  do  a  little  begging.  Thus,  together  with  what  the 
people  here  have  promised  still  to  give,  (though  I  scarce  put 
any  trust  in  their  pledges),  I  shall  have  quite  a  pleasant 
chapel,  small  though  it  be.  Another  motive  which  induces 
me  to  make  a  trip  to  St.  Louis  is  that  Thursday  next  we  are 
going  to  open  a  school  in  Avhich  three  languages,  French, 
English  and  Latin,  are  going  to  be  taught.  Mr.  Kimber  [  ?] 
who  is  40  years  old,  will  be  in  charge;  he  is  a  good  singer  and 
speaks  English,  French  and  Latin  very  well,  but  as  we  cannot 
find  here  the  books  needed  by  the  children,  I  will  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  journey  to  secure  them.16 

16  No   mention   of   a   Catholic   school   in   Chicago   apart   from 


62  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Up  to  the  present,  we  have  had  Mass  and  Vespers  sung 
every  Sunday  with  all  the  solemnity  possibile  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. People  enter  into  these  services  with  great  ear- 
nestness. I  have  hopes  that  with  the  grace  of  God  and  the 
charity  of  the  faithful  and  in  spite  of  all  difficulties  and 
miseries,  it  will  be  possible  to  organize  a  congregation  of  good 
Catholics  here  in  Chicago. 

Next  "Wednesday,  if  nothing  stands  in  the  way,  I  am 
going  to  leave  for  St.  Louis  with  the  firm  resolution  of  return- 
ing as  soon  as  possible,  so  as  not  to  lose  time  (if  such  be  your 
wish  in  the  matter,  Monseigneur)." 

Father  St.  Cyr  undertook  his  contemplated  journey 
to  St.  Louis,  whence  he  returned  to  Chicago  in  the  late 
spring  of  1834.17  Here,  however,  now  that  we  see  his 


the  above  occurs  in  any  of  Father  St.  Cyr 's  letters.  It  seems 
likely  that  some  reference  to  so  important  an  adjunct  to  the 
church  would  have  been  made  by  the  Father  in  his  subsequent 
correspondence  with  his  Bishop  had  the  school  actually  been  set 
on  foot. 

The  first  school  in  Chicago  was  opened  in  1816  by  William 
Cox,  a  discharged  soldier  of  Fort  Dearborn.  The  first  school  con- 
ducted along  regular  lines  was  taught  by  Stephen  Forbes  in  June, 
1830,  in  a  building  owned  by  one  of  the  Beaubiens,  which  stood 
at  what  is  now  the  crossing  of  Randolph  Street  and  Michigan 
Avenue. 

The  first  Sunday  school  in  Chicago,  organized  August  19, 
1832,  by  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  denomination,  held 
its  initial  sessions  in  a  small  frame  building  erected  shortly 
before  by  Mark  Beaubien.  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1:  289. 

"  Bishop  Eosati  's  Private  Diary  (Ephemerldes  Privatae)  con- 
tains the  item,  "1833,  31  Dec.  statui  D.  St.  Cyr  Sti.  Ludovici 
retinere  toto  hieme,  'I  have  decided  to  keep  Mr.  St.  Cyr  in 
St.  Louis  all  winter.'  "  Father  St.  Cyr,  according  to  the  same 
Diary,  was  present  at  the  consecration  of  the  church  of  St.  James 
in  Potosi,  Mo.,  April  27,  1834. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834         63 

little  chapel,  as  he  describes  it,  thrown  open  for  divine 
service,  we  may  retrace  our  steps  a  little  and  gather  up 
some  additional  details  concerning  the  erection  of  Chi- 
cago's first  Catholic  house  of  worship. 

On  his  first  arrival  in  Chicago  Father  St.  Cyr  had  st.  Mary's 
become  the  guest  of  Mr.  Mark  Beaubien,  proprietor  of 
the  Sauganash,  the  best  known  of  the  pioneer  hotels  of 
the  city.  For  a  year  or  more  he  enjoyed  gratis  the 
hospitality  of  Mr.  Beaubien,  who  from  the  very  first 
interested  himself  in  the  most  direct  way  in  the  priest's 
plans  for  a  Catholic  church  in  Chicago,  discharging  in 
this  connection  the  duties  of  chairman  of  the  building 
fund.  Moreover,  it  was  in  a  log  building  about  twelve 
feet  square,  situated  on  the  west  side  of  Market  Street, 
across  from  the  Sauganash  and  occupied  by  one  of  Mr. 
Beaubien 's  laborers,  that  Father  St.  Cyr  conducted 
services  pending  the  erection  of  the  church.18  As  a  site 
for  the  latter,  Mr.  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien,  Mark's  elder 
brother,  offered  for  the  nominal  sum  of  two  hundred 
dollars  a  lot  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Lake  and  Dear- 
born Streets  occupied  subsequently  by  the  Tremont 
House.19  The  Catholics  of  Chicago,  however,  were  un- 


18  Father  St.  Cyr's  first  Mass  in  Chicago,  May  5,  1833,  was 
celebrated  in  the  above  mentioned  house  on  the  west  side  of 
Market  Street.  The  Sauganash  stood,  not  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  Lake  and  Market  Streets,  as  it  is  sometimes  stated,  but  almost 
eighty  feet  to  the  south  on  the  east  side  of  Market  Street. 
See  CATON,  The  Last  of  the  Illinois  and  a  Sketch  of  the  Pota- 
watomies,  29,  in  Fergus  Historical  Series,  3. 

19 1  ( rpjjg  most   historical   lot   in   Chicago   undoubtedly   is   the 

one   occupied  by   the   Tremont   House In   1833,   Captain 

Luther  Nichols  refused  to  give  Baptiste  Beaubien  forty  cords  of 


64  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH   IN   CHICAGO 

able  to  collect  this  amount,  in  addition  to  what  they 
had  already  subscribed  for  the  church,  and  in  conse- 
quence Jean  Baptiste's  offer  could  not  be  accepted. 
The  latter  shortly  afterwards  sold  this  lot  to  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Egan,  who  in  1836  disposed  of  it,  so  it  is  said, 
for  the  sum  of  $60,000.  Taking  advice  of  Mr.  Beaubien 
and  Colonel  Owens,  the  Indian  agent,  Father  St.  Cyr 
now  decided  to  build  the  church  on  a  canal  lot  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Lake  and  State  streets,  the  last 
named  thoroughfare  not  having  been  as  yet  laid  out. 
The  lot  adjoined  or  almost  adjoined  the  military  reserv- 
ation around  which  was  a  fence  enclosing  a  number  of 
acres  of  cultivated  land.  It  does  not  appear  that  Father 
St.  Cyr  purchased  this  property  or  acquired  any  sort 
of  title  to  it,  though  he  did  obtain  a  guarantee  that  no 
bid  would  be  admitted  higher  than  the  valuation  to  be 
placed  on  it  by  the  canal  commissioners.  At  all  events, 
it  was  on  this  Lake  Street  lot,  occupied  in  later  years 
by  the  printing  house  of  Cameron,  Amberg  &  Co.,  that 


wood  for  it  and  wood  was  then  worth  $1.25  a  cord."     'Recollec- 
tions of  J.  D.  Bonnett,  in  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1 :  137. 

According  to  Kirkland,  Story  of  Chicago,  1 :  157,  the  lot 
offered  by  Col.  Beaubien  to  Father  St.  Cyr  for  a  church-site  was 
on  the  north  side  of  Lake  Street  between  Dearborn  and  State, 
being  lot  7  of  block  16,  in  size  80x150  feet.  On  September  27, 
1830,  Col.  Beaubien  bought,  it  being  the  first  public  sale  of  lots 
held  in  Chicago,  ten  lots  at  an  aggregate  cost  to  him  of  $346. 
Among  them  were  two  lots,  one  at  the  northwest,  another  at  the 
southeast  corner  of  Lake  and  Dearborn  Street,  the  first  being 
the  original  and  the  second  the  later  site  of  the  historic  Tremont 
House.  Col.  Beaubien 's  ten  lots  bore  a  valuation  in  1853  of 
$450,000  and  in  1891  of  $2,480,000.  The  story  of  the  financial 
reverses  of  this  redoubtable  pioneer,  Chicago's  heaviest  tax-payer 
in  1825,  John  Kinzie  and  Antoine  Ouilmette  coming  next,  is  a 
chapter  of  tragic  interest  in  the  early  history  of  the  city. 


TKE  UMARY 
OF  Ttf£ ' 


Augustine  Deodat  Taylor,  builder  of  six  of  Chicago's  pioneer 
Catholic  Churches,  including  the  four  earliest,  Saint  Mary's,  Saint 
Patrick's,  Saint  Peter's,  Saint  Joseph's.  He  came  to  Chicago  in 
1833,  four  years  later  than  his  brother  Anson,  and  was  thereafter 
a  resident  of  the  city  up  to  his  death.  From  a  photograph  in  the 
possession  of  his  niece,  Miss  Monica  Taylor  of  Hubbard  Woods, 
Illinois. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834         65 

the  first  Catholic  church  of  Chicago  was  erected  under 
the  name  of  St.  Mary's.  On  the  same  lot  with  the 
church  stood  a  house  built  by  a  Mr.  Dexter  Graves,  who, 
like  Father  St.  Cyr,  had  built  on  the  property  only 
after  he  had  received  a  guarantee  that  it  would  not  be 
sold  at  a  price  in  excess  of  the  valuation  to  be  fixed  by 
the  canal  commissioners.  "When  eventually  the  lot  came 
on  the  market  at  the  commissioners'  appraisement  of 
$10,000,  Mr.  Dexter  Graves  became  the  purchaser  at 
that  figure,  the  Catholics  of  Chicago  finding  it  beyond 
their  means  to  raise  so  considerable  a  sum.20 


20  Letter  of  Father  St.  Cyr  to  Hon.  John  Wentworth,  (His- 
torical Scrap-Boole,  St.  Ignatius  College  Library,  Chicago).  This 
letter  is  the  basis  of  the  account  in  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1 :  290, 
from  which  the  following  additional  details  are  cited: 

' '  In  the  meantime,  not  anticipating  the  high  price  at  which 
the  lot  would  be  appraised,  they  erected  thereon  a  church  build- 
ing, twenty-five  by  thirty-five  feet  in  size.  The  lumber  for  this 
building  was  brought  in  a  scow  across  the  lake  from  St.  Joseph, 
Mich.,  a  brother  of  Augustine  Deodat  Taylor,  with  his  own  team, 
hauled  it  from  the  schooner  to  the  site  of  the  prospective  church. 
Augustine  D.  Taylor  was  the  architect  and  builder.  The  total 
cost  of  the  edifice  was  about  $400,  but  though  small  and  in- 
expensive it  was  not  completed  sufficiently  for  occupying  and 
dedication  until  in  October.  Catholic  Indians  assisted  at  the 
first  Mass  celebrated  therein.  Indian  women  had  cleaned  and 
prepared  the  modest  building  for  the  celebration  of  the  sacred 
rite,  and  Deacon  John  Wright,  a  strong  supporter  of  Eev.  Jere- 
miah Porter,  pastor  of  the  first  Presbyterian  church,  had,  in 
August,  assisted  in  raising  the  frame  of  the  building.  At  this 
dedication  service  there  were  present  about  one  hundred  persons. 
The  church  itself  Was  not  plastered,  it  had  only  rough  benches 
for  pews  and  the  simplest  of  tables  for  altar  and  pulpit.  The 
outside  of  the  building  was  not  painted  and  it  had  neither 
steeple  nor  tower.  Some  time  afterwards  it  was  surmounted  by 
a  low,  open  tower,  in  which  a  small  bell  was  hung,  being  the 


66  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Shortly  after  his  return  to  Chicago  from  St.  Louis, 
Father  St.  Cyr  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati,  June  11,  1834 : 

St.Cyrto  «i  arrived  in  Chicago  the  fifth  of  this  month,  (June, 

osa  i,  1834)  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  people,  who  thought 

I  was  never  going  to  return.  They  were  pleased  to  see  me 
again.  Last  Sunday  we  had  High  Mass,  the  church  being  full 
of  people  despite  the  bad  weather,  and  in  the  afternoon  we 
sang  Vespers.  A  great  many  Americans  assisted  at  the 
services. 

I  cannot  give  you  the  population  of  Chicago  exactly. 
The  common  opinion  is  that  there  are  two  thousand  inhab- 
itants in  town  and  every  day  you  may  see  vessels  and  steam- 
boats put  in  here  from  the  lake  crowded  with  families  who 
corne  to  settle  in  Chicago.  Every  day  new  houses  may  be 
seen  going  up  on  all  sides.  Surgunt  moenia  Trojae. 

In  the  course  of  my  journey  I  saw  or  visited  nearly  all 
the  Catholics  of  Illinois.  I  performed  13  baptisms  and  4 
marriages  and  gave  the  Catholics  of  Sugar  Creek,  Deer  Creek, 
South  Fork  and  Springfield  an  opportunity  to  make  their 
Easter  duty. 

Eighteen  miles  above  Peoria  I  found  several  Catholic 
families  who  so  far  have  not  been  visited.  I  could  not  stop 
there  but  I  promised  to  visit  them  when  I  should  return  from 
Chicago.  As  I  learn  that  [Rev.]  Mr.  Fitzmaurice  is  at  Galena, 
am  I  to  remain  in  Chicago  or  is  he  to  take  on  himself  the 
duty  with  which  I  have  been  charged,  namely,  of  visiting 
Chicago  from  time  to  time?21  I  await  your  orders  in  this 


first  bell  used  in  Chicago  to  call  the  pious  together  for  religious 
worship.  It  was  the  size  of  an  ordinary  locomotive  bell  of  the 
present,  and  could  be  heard  for  only  a  short  distance." 

Augustine  D.  Taylor,  builder  of  the  church,  relates  in  his 
Reminiscences,  published  in  one  of  the  Chicago  dailies,  that  when 
he  went  to  collect  his  bill  from  Mark  Beaubien,  the  treasurer  of 
the  building  fund,  the  latter  pulled  from  under  his  bed  a  half- 
bushel  basket  of  shining  silver  half-dollars,  such  as  the  Govern- 
ment used  in  paying  the  Indians  their  annuities. 

21  Father   Charles    Fitzmauriee,    a   native   of    Ireland,    joined 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1833-1834         67 

matter;  please  be  so  good,  Monseigneur,  as  to  let  me  know  as 
soon  as  possible  what  I  am  to  do." 

Bishop  Rosati's  prompt  reply  to  Father  St.  Cyr's 
inquiry  in  regard  to  Galena  elicited  from  the  latter  a 
communication  under  date  of  July  2,  1834,  in  which 
he  sets  forth  his  views  concerning  the  proper  place  to 
station  the  missionary  who  was  to  attend  to  the  spiritual 
needs  of  the  Catholics  of  Central  Illinois. 

"I  have  just  received  your  letter  under  date  of  June  20,    St.Cyrto 
by  which  I  learn  that  [Rev.l  Mr.  Fitzmaurice  is  at  Galena  and   R°fatl- 

Jiili/  2    1834 

will  remain  there  definitely.  I  am  greatly  pleased  with  the 
news  as  it  relieves  me  of  the  considerable  uneasiness  I  should 
have  felt  had  I  been  obliged  to  visit  this  'place  according  to 
the  charge  you  first  gave  me. 

As  to  the  Catholics  whom  you  tell  me  about  in  your  letter, 
Monseigneur,  I  am  acquainted  with  them,  have  met  them  and 
know  where  they  live.  Despite  all  this,  I  cannot  visit  them 
so  long  as  I  remain  in  Chicago,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  they 
are  150  miles  from  where  I  am  stationed  and  that  I  cannot 
meet  the  expenses  I  am  obliged  to  incur  in  running  from  place 
to  place.  What  is  more,  my  health  would  allow  it  less  at  the 
present  time  than  ever. 

As  to  the  most  centrally  located  place  from  which  to  visit 
all  the  Catholics  of  Illinois,  and  I  gave  the  matter  particular 
attention  during  my  journey  from  St.  Louis  to  Chicago,  it  is 
in  my  opinion  Springfield,  100  miles  from  St.  Louis  and  a 
little  over  200  miles  from  Chicago.  Here  is  the  place  I  should 
pick  out  for  headquarters,  as  being  the  most  suitable  for  the 
purpose.  But  you  see  at  the  same  time  that  I  cannot  visit 
the  Catholics  of  Illinois  on  account  of  the  great  distance  in- 
tervening between  the  settlements  and  the  difficulties  to  be  met 
with  in  traveling  over  the  prairies.  Hence,  either  Chicago 

the  St.  Louis  diocese  in  1834.  He  left  St.  Louis  on  May  22  of 
that  year  for  Galena,  to  which  place  he  was  assigned  by  Bishop 
Eosati  in  succession  to  Father  McMahon,  who  had  died  the  year 
before.  Shepherd  of  the  Valley,  May  23,  1834. 


68  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

or  the  Catholics  of  Illinois  are  to  be  neglected  or  else  some 
other  measures  must  be  taken.  Now,  Monseigneur,  it  is  for 
you  to  decide  as  you  judge  best.  Only,  whether  you  judge 
it  proper  that  I  remain  in  Chicago  or  leave  it,  kindly  let  me 
know  as  soon  as  possible,  because,  if  I  am  to  remain  here  at 
least  some  time  longer,  the  people  are  going  to  enlarge  the 
church  by  24  feet  and  build  a  presbytery.  It  would  disappoint 
and  even  discourage  them  were  we  now  to  abandon  them  after 
having  put  them  to  so  much  expense. 

We  have  had  34  [  ?]  pews  put  in  the  church,  some  for 
four  and  some  for  six  persons. 

Last  Sunday,  I  gave  first  Communion  to  four  distin- 
guished persons,  Madame  Beaubien,  whom  I  baptized  with 
one  of  her  children,  Madame  Juneau  Solomon  [Solomon 
Juneau],  etc.  A  large  number  of  Catholics  approached  the 
sacraments.22 

The  population  of  Chicago  increases  daily;  the  town  num- 
bers now  about  2,400  inhabitants.  People  here  are  anxious 
to  know  when  the  Bishop  will  be  appointed.  They  would  like 
to  have  him  in  Chicago. 

If  you  judge  it  expedient  that  I  remain  in  Chicago  until 
another  priest  comes,  please  tell  [Rev.]  Mr.  Lutz  to  secure 
for  me  the  books  which  I  suggested  that  he  send  me  at  the 
first  opportunity. 

They  are  books  I  should  find  of  the  greatest  utility  here, 
but  I  have  been  without  them,  as  I  could  not  take  them  with 
me  when  I  left  St.  Louis.  I  should  be  gratified  to  know, 
Monseigneur,  whether  the  books  of  which  I  gave  you  a  list 
that  you  might  have  them  brought  from  the  Barrens  are  at 
length  in  St.  Louis." 

It  may  be  noted  in  connection  with  the  above  letter 
of  Father  St.  Cyr  that  he  had  been  preceded  in  his 


22  Madam  Beaubien  (Josette  Laframboise),  second  wife  of 
Col.  Baptiste  Beaubien,  and  her  son,  Alexander  Beaubien,  were 
baptized  by  Father  St.  Cyr  on  June  28,  1833.  Madame  Juneau 
was  the  wife  of  Solomon  Juneau,  the  founder  of  Milwaukee  and 
first  mayor  of  that  city. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.  CYR,  1833-1834          69 

ministry  to  the  Catholics  of  Springfield  and  other 
localities  in  Sangamon  County,  Illinois,  by  the  Jesuit 
missionary,  Father  Charles  Van  Quickenborne,  who 
established  the  Missouri  Province  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  in  1823.  Father  Van  Quickenborne 's  baptisms 
in  Sangamon  County,  dating  as  early  as  1832,  are, 
among  the  earliest,  if  not  the  earliest  recorded  for  that 
part  of  the  state  of  Illinois.23 


23  Allusion  may  here  be  made  to  the  statement  appearing 
at  intervals  in  the  Catholic  press  that  Father  St.  Cyr,  on  occa- 
sion of  these  ministerial  visits  to  the  Catholics  of  Sangamon  and 
adjoining  counties  in  Illinois,  often  said  Mass  in  the  house  of 
Thomas  Lincoln,  father  of  the  future  President,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln. The  most  authoritative  version  of  the  statement  in  question 
is  furnished  by  Archbishop  Ireland  in  a  letter  communicated  to 
the  editor  of  the  American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,  22 :  207. 

' '  I  happen  to  be  able  to  furnish  a  slight  contribution  to 
the  discussion  by  repeating,  without  peril  of  mistake,  what  the 
old  missionary,  Father  St.  Cyr,  was  wont  actually  to  say  touch- 
ing Catholicity  in  the  Lincoln  household.  Father  St.  Cyr  was  a 
priest  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  from  which  in  early  days  the 
scattered  Catholics  of  Southern  Illinois  received  ministerial  at- 
tention. He  was  a  remarkable  man,  intelligent  to  a  very  high 
degree,  most  zealous  in  work,  most  holy  in  life.  I  knew  him 
when  in  later  years  he  was  chaplain  to  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph, 
of  Carondelet.  He  held  in  vivid  recollection  the  story  of  the 
Church  in  olden  times  through  Missouri  and  Illinois.  It  was  a 
delight  and  a  means  of  most  valuable  information  to  sit  by 
and  converse  with  him.  In  1866  he  spent  a  month  visiting  me 
in  St.  Paul.  Here  is  his  statement,  as  I  then  took  it  down  in 
writing,  regarding  the  Lincoln  family.  'I  visited  several  times 
the  Lincolns  in  their  home  in  Southern  Illinois.  The  father  and 
stepmother  of  Abraham  Lincoln  both  were  Catholics.  How  they 
had  become  Catholics  I  do  not  know.  They  were  not  well  in- 
structed in  their  religion;  but  they  were  strong  and  sincere  in 
their  profession  of  it.  I  said  Mass  repeatedly  in  their  house. 
Abraham  was  not  a  Catholic;  he  never  had  been  one,  and  he 


70  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

never  led  me  to  believe  that  he  would  become  one.  At  the  time 
Abraham  was  twenty  years  old  or  thereabouts,  a  tall,  thin  young 
fellow,  kind  and  good-natured.  He  used  to  assist  me  in  pre- 
paring the  altar  for  Mass.  Once  he  made  me  a  present  of  a  half 
dozen  chairs.  He  had  made  those  chairs  with  his  own  hands, 
expressly  for  me;  they  were  simple  in  form  and  fashion  as  chairs 
used  in  country  places  then  would  be.'  " 

Without  raising  the  question  of  the  value  to  be  attached  to 
the  testimony  of  Father  St.  Cyr  in  regard  to  the  alleged  Cath- 
olicity of  the  Lincoln  family,  it  may  here  be  stated  that 
there  were  certainly  Catholic  connections  of  the  President's 
family  settled  in  Hancock  County,  Illinois,  where  they  were 
visited  by  Father  Van  Quickenborne  in  his  missionary  rounds 
during  the  early  thirties.  (The  Van  Quickenborne  baptismal 
records  for  Illinois  are  in  the  Archives  of  St.  Mary's  College, 
St.  Mary's,  Kansas.  See  also  an  important  article,  "The  Lin- 
coins  of  Fountain  Green"  in  the  St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat, 
February  9,  1899).  One  of  these  Hancock  County  Lincolns, 
Abraham  Lincoln  by  name  and  a  first  cousin  of  the  President, 
figures  in  a  baptismal  entry  in  Father  Van  Quickenborne 's 
records.  ' '  But  to  return  to  the  Fountain  Green  Lincolns.  The 
religion  of  the  family  was  Eoman  Catholic.  The  brothers,  Abra- 
ham and  James,  were  members  of  the  Catholic  church  in  Ken- 
tucky and  they  are  all  buried  in  the  old  Catholic  cemetery  a 
short  distance  from  the  village  of  Fountain  Green,  as  are  other 
members  of  the  family."  Journal  Illinois  State  Historical  So- 
ciety, 8:  62.  It  seems  probable  that  in  Father  St.  Cyr's  recol- 
lections of  later  years  the  Sangamon  County  Lincolns  were  con- 
founded with  the  Catholic  Lincolns  of  Hancock  County. 


The  Et.  Rev.  Simon  William  Gabriel  Brute,  first  Bishop  of 
Vincennes,  in  the  territory  of  which  diocese  Chicago  was  included 
during  the  period  1834-1843.  Ascetic,  litterateur,  educator  and 
tireless  worker  in  the  ministry,  Bishop  Brute  is  an  outstanding 
figure  of  interest  and  charm  in  the  story  of  the  early  develop- 
ment of  Catholicism  in  the  United  States.  Engraving  by  J.  A. 
O'Neill  from  a  cast  taken  after  death.  The  only  portrait  of  the 
prelate  known  to  exist  and  according  to  his  biographer,  Bishop 
Bayley  of  Newark,  "a  good  representation  of  his  features." 


\ 


CHAPTER  III 


BISHOP  BRUTE  AND  THE  MISSION  OF 
CHICAGO 


By  the  Bull,  Maximas  inter,  Gregory  XVI  erected  Diocese  of 
in  1834  the  diocese  of  Vincennes,  comprising  the 
state  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  east  of  a  line  from  Fort 
Massac  along  the  eastern  boundaries  of  Johnson, 
Franklin,  Jefferson,  Marion,  Fayette,  Shelby  and  Mann 
Counties,  to  the  Illinois  river,  eight  miles  above  Ottawa, 
and  thence  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State.1 
Eastern  Illinois  and  with  it  Chicago  thus  fell  within  the 
limits  of  the  new  ecclesiastical  district  and  the  story  of 
Catholicism  in  that  rapidly  growing  town  became  for 
a  decade  a  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  diocese  of 
Vincennes. 

The  choice  of.  the  Bishops  of  America,  ratified  by   Simon 
Gregory  XVI,  for  incumbent  of  the  newly  erected  see,   ^briei 
fell   upon    Father    Simon   William    Gabriel    Brute    de  Brute 
Remur,  at  the  moment  professor  of  theology  in  Mt.  St. 

1  SHEA,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States, 
3:  640.  "It  seems  to  me,  and  I  have  answered  to  that  effect, 
that  my  true  limits  in  Illinois  being  a  meridian  drawn  from 
Fort  Massac  to  the  Falls  of  the  Illinois  river,  eight  miles  above 
Ottawa,  everything  to  the  West  belongs  to  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis, 
as  the  town  of  Shelbyville,  Decatur,  Bloomington,  Ottawa." 
Brute  to  Eosati.  The  full  text  of  the  decree  of  Gregory  XVI  de- 
nning the  limits  of  the  diocese  of  Vincennes  is  translated  in  the 
Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,  2 :  411. 

71 


72  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Mary's  Seminary,  near  Emmitsburg,  Maryland.  Born 
at  Rennes  in  Brittany,  March  20,  1779,  this  singularly 
typical  Breton  Catholic  passed  through  the  fiery  ordeal 
of  the  French  Revolution,  being  eye-witness  of  many 
of  the  gruesome  excesses,  burnt  forever  afterwards  into 
his  memory,  that  marked  the  progress  of  the  great  up- 
heaval. From  medicine,  in  which  he  graduated  with 
the  highest  honors,  he  turned  to  the  priesthood,  came  to 
America  in  1810,  became  a  member  of  the  Society  of 
St.  Sulpice,  and  was  for  a  period  President  of  the 
Sulpician  Seminary  of  St.  Mary's  in  Baltimore.  Ex- 
ceptional gifts  of  mind  and  heart,  a  vast  range  of 
learning,  ardent  personal  piety,  ascetic  habits  of  life, 
the  faith  of  a  Breton  peasant,  though  not  of  the 
peasantry  himself,  engaging  manners  and  an  exquisite 
sympathy  for  others,  made  Brute  an  outstanding  figure 
in  every  circle  in  which  he  moved.  His  correspondence, 
distinguished  alike  in  sentiment  and  literary  form,  up- 
held the  best  traditions  of  the  classic  letter-writers  of 
his  native  land.  Friends  he  made  in  numbers,  among 
them  figures  of  the  highest  distinction  in  the  church 
circles  of  the  day.  Mother  Seton,  foundress  of  the 
American  Daughters  of  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul,  counted 
him  the  most  trusted  of  her  spirtual  guides.  He  knew 
intimately  the  unhappy  De  Lammenais  and  attempted, 
vainly  withal,  both  in  personal  visits  in  France  and  in 
letters  from  the  United  States  to  recover  that  brilliant 
ecclesiastic  for  the  Church. 

Such  was  Simon  William  Gabriel  Brute  de  Remur, 
who  saw  himself  summoned  by  the  Holy  See  to  occupy 
the  new  See  of  Vincennes.  Bishop  England  is  said  to 
have  expressed  in  council  his  serious  misgivings  as  to 
the  fitness  of  this  very  retiring  and  unworldly  figure, 


TRIE  LITOW 

OF  Tii£ 
'"''";~       ^-  _ , i 


The  diocese  of  Vincennes  at  its  birth.  Offhand  pen-and-ink  sketch  by 
Bishop  Brute  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Bishop  Eosati,  March  2,  1835.  The 
congregations  under  his  jurisdiction,  so  Brute  informs  his  correspondent, 
"lie  off  [lit.  play]  at  four  corners,  200,  250  miles  away  from  the  see, 
Vincennes."  Saint  Louis  Archdiocesan  Archives. 


BISHOP  BRUTE  AND  THE  MISSION  OF  CHICAGO  73 

this  ascetic  and  man  of  books,  for  the  rough  tasks  of  a 
missionary-bishop;  but  all  doubts  his  friends  may  have 
entertained  as  to  his  fitness  for  his  new  duties  vanished 
when  they  saw  him  set  himself  with  amazing  energy  and 
zeal  to  cultivate  the  great  spiritual  waste  of  Indiana 
and  Eastern  Illinois  which  Providence  had  entrusted  to 
his  hands.2 

Father  Brute  was  conducting  a  spiritual  retreat  for 
Mother  Seton's  Sisters  at  their  Mother-house  in  Emmits- 
burg,  Maryland,  when  the  papal  bull  appointing  him 
Bishop  of  Vincennes  came  into  his  hands;  and  he  is 
said  to  have  opened  the  document  in  the  chapel  and 
read  it  on  his  knees.3  At  the  first  opportunity  he  went 
into  retreat  to  determine  whether  to  accept  or  decline 
the  proffered  dignity,  drawing  up  on  this  occasion,  in 
very  precise  and  lawyer-like  fashion,  a  memorandum  of 


2  For  information  concerning  this  remarkable  member  of  the 
Catholic  hierarchy  in  the  United  States,  see  Bayley,  Memories  of 
Bishop   'Brute;  R.  F.  Clarke,  Lives  of  the  Deceased  Bishops  of 
the  United  States,  2 :    7 ;   Catholic  Encyclopedia,  3 :    24 ;   Herber- 
mann,   The  Sulpicians  in  the    United  States.     Bishop  Du  Bourg 
had   already,   in    1822,   proposed   either   Brute   or   Rosati   as   his 
successor  in  St.  Louis  in  case  that  city  were  erected  into  a  new 
See.    "I  have  cast  my  eyes  on  two  men,  one  French,  the  other 
Italian;    the   one    a   Sulpician,   who   has   been   in   Baltimore   for 
twelve  years  and  is  a  man  of  universal  knowledge,  of  eminent 
sanctity,   whose   zeal   was   in   the   past   considered   excessive,   but 
which  age  and  experience  have  toned  down  to  the  proper  degree; 
for  the  rest,  possessing  in   a  high  degree  the  power  of  making 
himself  beloved,  because  his  heart  is  the  tenderest  and  humblest 
that  I  know  of,  blessed  finally  with  strength  proportionate  to  the 
immense  labors  that  he  would  have  to  undertake."    Du  Bourg  a 
Plessis,  Archbishop  of  Quebec,  in  Eecords  of  the  American  Cath- 
olic Historical  Society,  19 :  192. 

3  BAYLEY,  Memories  of  Bishop  Brute,  p.  58. 


74  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

the  reasons  pro  and  con.  Influenced  solely  by  a  high 
sense  of  duty,  he  made  his  choice  for  acceptance  and  set 
out  for  St.  Louis  in  September,  1834,  to  receive  consecra- 
tion. At  Bardstown,  on  the  way,  he  withdrew  for  some 
days  into  retreat  to  fortify  himself  by  prayer  against 
the  grave  responsibility  he  was  about  to  shoulder.  And 
here  we  find  him  already  anxious  over  the  impending 
removal  from  Chicago  of  Father  St.  Cyr,  whose  services 
that  place  had  been  enjoying  only  through  the  courtesy 
of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  From  Bardstown  where  he 
met  Bishop  Flaget  he  wrote  October  5  to  Bishop  Rosati : 

Bruttto  "it  does  not  seem  that  Mgr.  Reze  will  be  able  to  come. 

^°*a**'         I  regret  it  exceedingly.    He  writes  me  that  you  are  recalling 
1834  Mr.  St.  Cyr  from  Chicago  on  account  of  his  health.     May  I 

find  him  better  and  may  I  recover  in  St.  Louis  the  services  of 
this  worthy  priest.  Ah!  Monseigneur,  you  will  accord  me  in 
my  destitution  everything  you  possibly  can.  I  have  got  abso- 
lutely no  one  for  Vincenhes  on  starting  out,  nor  the  promise 
of  anybody  later  on.  I  can  only  say  the  prayer  we  recite  at 

the   ordination   of  priests Domine   haec  adjumenta 

largire  qui  quanta  fragiliores  sumus  tanto  his  pluribus  in- 
digemus.  [Grant  us,  0  Lord,  these  helps  which  we  need  in 
measure  proportionate  to  our  weakness.]  I  find  here  only  Mr. 
Picot,  whom  everybody  tells  me  to  leave  here.  At  the  Jesuits' 
place,  St.  Mary's,  good  Father  Chazelles  grants  me  Father 
Petit,  but  only  for  the  moment  of  installation  and  a  few  days 
after.4  They  tell  me  that  Mr.  Badin  will  be  able  to  make  his 


4  Saint  Mary 's  College,  near  Lebanon,  Marion  County,  Ken- 
tucky was  at  this  time  under  the  management  of  a  colony  of 
French  Jesuits,  Father  Chazelles  being  Superior.  Father  Louis 
Petit,  one  of  their  number,  who  accompanied  Brute  to  Saint  Louis 
for  the  latter 's  consecration,  is  not  to  be  identified  with  Father 
Louis  Benjamin  Petit  of  the  secular  clergy,  the  Potawatomi 
missionary,  who  went  with  his  Indian  charges  on  their  forced 
journey  from  Indiana  to  the  West  in  1838. 


BISHOP  BRUTE  AND  THE  MISSION  OF  CHICAGO  75 

residence  at  Fort  Wayne.  From  there  up  to  Logansport  there 
are,  so  they  say,  about  2,000  Irishmen  engaged  on  the  work 
of  opening  a  canal,  whom  it  would  be  well  to  attend  to  in  the 
near  future.  But  we  shall  reserve  all  these  matters  for  the 
conversations  we  are  soon  to  have."  5 

On  September  30  Bishop-elect  Brute  had  already 
written  to  Bishop  Rosati  representing  that  he  might 
find  it  necessary  to  appeal  to  "the  great,  rich  and 
splendid  metroplis  of  Missouri"  for  financial  help  to 

enable  him  to  continue  his  journey  to  St.  Louis 

"But  I  do  very  wrong  to  obtrude  into  matters  that 
ought  to  be  left  to  you,  good  and  wise  Bishop.  I  pass 
the  pen  to  Mgr.  Flaget  and  on  both  knees  ask  your 
blessing. ' '  Bishop  Flaget 's  post-script  runs  as  follows : 

"What  modesty,  humility,  simplicity  in  these  few  words    Flaget  to 

written  by  the  new  Bishop-elect!     It  all  edifies  me  and  puts    Rosatl> 

.,1111  ,i  ,-  -r-i        ,  i       n         i  T   i  September  30, 

me  to  the  blush  at  the  same  time.     For  the  five  days  I  have    1834 

been  in  the  company  of  this  successor  of  the  Apostles,  I  have 
done  nothing  but  admire  and  bless  the  Providence  which  com- 
passes mightily  its  designs  by  means  inexplicable  and  such  as 
would  be  reputed  folly  in  the  eyes  of  wordlings.  The  figure, 
rather  odd,  of  this  excellent  prelate;  the  ceaseless  motions  of 
his  fingers,  hands,  head  and  whole  body  when  he  speaks;  his 


5  Saint  Louis  Archdiocesan  Archives.  Numerous  unpublished 
letters  of  Bishop  Brute  are  preserved  in  various  Catholic  deposi- 
taries throughout  the  country.  His  correspondence  with  Bishop 
Eosati  comprising  138  letters  is  in  the  Saint  Louis  Archdiocesan 
Archives  (Saint  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eevieiu,  1:  33)  and 
his  correspondence  with  Judge  Gaston  is  in  the  Catholic  Archives 
of  America,  Notre  Dame  University.  All  in  all,  abundant  orig- 
inal material  is  extant  for  an  authoritative  first-hand  biography 
of  Bishop  Brute.  With  the  exception  of  the  letter  to  Mother 
Rose,  the  Brute  letters  incorporated  in  this  sketch  are  here  pub- 
lished for  the  first  time  from  the  French  originals  in  the  Saint 
Louis  Archdiocesan  Archives. 


1 6  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

language,  English  pronounced  exactly  like  French  and  coming 
from  a  mouth  that  is  almost  toothless,  all  this  would  seem 
perforce  to  render  him  useless  for  the  post  assigned  him,  not 
to  say  laughable  and  ridiculous.  But,  mon  Dieu,  when  he 
speaks  of  our  Divine  Lord,  of  His  love  for  men,  of  His  con- 
tinual spirit  of  sacrifice,  etc.,  my  heart  dilates  and  is  aglow 
like  that  of  the  disciples  of  Emmaus.  I  am  beside  myself; 
I  hope  then  against  all  hope  and  look  forward  to  wonder  upon 
wonder  to  be  wrought  by  this  venerable  Apostle. 

To  give  you  a  slight  idea  of  his  perfect  abandonment  to 
Divine  Providence,  in  the  more  than  twenty  letters  which  he 
has  written  to  Mgr.  David  and  myself  on  the  bishopric  of 
Yincennes,  the  number  of  Catholic  missionaries,  etc.,  he  has 
never  said  a  word  about  his  episcopal  revenue  or  about  his 
palace,  its  furniture,  etc.;  and  so,  conformably  to  these  prin- 
ciples of  disinterestedness,  he  seems  to  be  content  as  a  king, 
because,  of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  which  he  col- 
lected in  the  East,  some  $60  or  $80  still  remain  to  him  now 
when  he  has  almost  reached  his  destination.  For  the  love  of 
God.  bring  this  veritable  and  more  than  episcopal  poverty  to 
the  notice  of  the  pious  and  generous  souls  of  St.  Louis,  so 
that  they  will  come  to  his  aid  not  only  by  meeting  the  ex- 
penses he  will  incur  by  transferring  his  consecration  to  Saint 
Louis,  but  by  helping  him  to  set  up  his  new  household.  My 
dear  Brother,  I  am  a  beggar  for  other  people,  when  in  all 
conscience  I  could  be  a  beggar  for  myself." 

From  Bardstown  Bishop-elect  Brute  travelled  by 
stage  to  Saint  Louis  in  company  with  Bishop  Flaget, 
the  Nestor  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy  in  the  "West,  then 
in  his  seventy-second  year.  The  two  were  caught  in  a 
violent  storm  on  the  prairie  and  suffered  severely  from 
wet  and  cold.  " L 'incomparable,"  Brute  calls  his  ven- 
erable companion  as  he  pictures  him  drying  his  breviary 
before  the  inn-fire.6  The  travellers  assisted  at  the  con- 
secration of  the  new  Saint  Louis  Cathedral,  which  took 


6  Bayley,  Memories  of  Bishop  Brute,  p.  61. 


BISHOP  BRUTE  AND  THE  MISSION  OF  CHICAGO  77 

place  October  26,  1834.  Two  days  later,  on  October  28, 
followed  the  consecration  of  Brute  at  the  hands  of 
Bishop  Flaget,  assisted  by  Bishops  Rosati  and  Purcell. 
Nothing  weighed  more  heavily  on  the  spirits  of 
Bishop  Brute  in  the  days  immediately  preceding  his 
consecration  than  the  spiritual  plight  in  which  Chicago 
was  left  by  the  recall  to  Saint  Louis  of  Father  St.  Cyr. 
And  yet  he  was  unable  to  discuss  the  weighty  matter 
with  Bishop  Rosati,  so  absorbed  was  the  latter  in  prep- 
aration for  the  consecration  of  the  new  house  of  worship 
and  in  other  pressing  business.  But  if  he  could  not 
confer  with  the  Saint  Louis  prelate  on  the  Chicago  situ- 
ation, he  could  at  least  lay  the  matter  before  him  in  a 
written  memorial. 


Brute  to 


"The  davs   are  slipping  bv.     \ou  are  so  busv  that   I 

,  ,.  *,  Rosati, 

cannot  see  you  or  rather  can  see  you  only  at  times  when  you    QCtober  1834 
ought   to   be   giving   that   over-burdened   head   and   heart   of 
yours  some  little  repose — I  write  to  you  instead. 

I  beg  you  to  reconsider  seriously  before  the  Lord  the  case 
of  Mr.  St.  Cyr  and  grant  me  him  (or  else  Mr.  Roux  or  Mr. 
Loisel  or  Mr.  Dupuy) — but  Mr.  St.  Cyr  is  already  known  and 
esteemed  in  Chicago.7 

In  this  event,  (1)  I  will  give  him  $50  at  first  and  more 
later  on.  (2)  I  will  go  ahead  of  him  to  Chicago  immediately 
after  my  installation  to  announce  him  and  to  pledge  the  peo- 
ple my  assistance;  and  I  will  return  there  in  the  Spring. 

I  beg  you  to  consider  (1)  that  the  Holy  Father  who  es- 
tablishes this  new  diocese,  desires  that  it  be  encouraged  by  the 


7  Father  Benedict  Roux,  fellow-countryman  and  intimate 
friend  of  Father  St.  Cyr,  was  at  this  time  resident  priest  among 
the  French  Catholics  settled  on  the  site  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri, 
whither  he  was  sent  by  Bishop  Rosati  in  November,  1833. 

Father  Regis  Loisel  (1805-1845)  was  the  first  Saint  Louisan 
raised  to  the  priesthood.  Father  E.  Dupuy  was  stationed  at  "The 
Post"  in  Arkansas. 


78  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

neighboring  bishops.  Mgr.  Maget  grants  me  Messrs.  Lalu- 
miere,  Ferneding  and  Badin — do  you  grant  me  Mr.  St.  Cyr 
for  the  space  of  a  year,  during  which  I  shall  endeavor  to  ob- 
tain some  other  priests.8  (2)  Be  pleased  to  recall  with  what 
zeal  and  with  what  respect  for  the  priests  of  Saint  Vincent  de 
Paul  and  the  missionaries  of  Mgr.  Du  Bourg,  I  did  all  I  pos- 
sibly could  in  1816,  the  critical  date  of  yours'  and  Mr.  De 
Andreis's  arrival;  and  in  1819  for  his  second  band  of  mis- 
sionaries.9 No  sooner  had  I  consented  to  accept  my  appoint- 
ment, than  everything  failed  me  at  once, — money,  priests  to 
bring  along  with  me,  priests  already  on  the  ground — Mr.  St. 
Cyr,  Mr.  Picot,  Mr.  Petit,  each  for  some  different  reason — 
money,  sisters,  everything,  and  still  I  am  going  to  be  conse- 
crated. Oh!  do  make  an  effort  and  write  again  yourself  to 
the  Archbishop. 

If  you  help  to  organize  this  diocese,  which  you  have 
together  created  in  council,  for  the  Holy  Father  could  not  do 
otherwise  than  second  your  desire,  within  a  few  years  this 
empty  country  between  yourself  and  Cincinnati  will  be  filled 
up — those  very  important  points,  Chicago  and  Fort  Wayne — 
Vincennes  will  have  its  Sisters  again.  Sisters!  Ah,  Mon- 
seigneur,  I  have  done  so  much  to  secure  them  for  you.  For 
twenty-five  years  I  have  put  to  use  all  that  I  was,  all  that  I 


8  Father  Simon  P.  Lalumiere  (1804-1857),  a  native  of  Vin- 
cennes, Indiana,  welcomed  Bishop  Brute  at  his  installation  in 
November,  1834.  He  was  a  zealous,  energetic  missionary,  identi- 
fied with  the  pioneer  days  of  the  diocese  of  Vincennes  and  died 
pastor  of  Saint  Joseph's  church,  Terre  Haute,  Indiana.  A  rough 
sketch-map  of  the  Vincennes  diocese  drawn  by  Bishop  Brute  in 
a  letter  to  Bishop  Eosati,  March  1,  1835,  indicates  "Mr.  Ferned- 
ing's  Germans"  as  located  east  of  Vincennes  towards  the  Ohio 
line.  Saint  Louis  Archdiocesan  Archives. 

0  The  Eight  Eev.  Louis  William  Valentine  Du  Bourg,  Bishop 
of  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas,  was  installed  in  Saint  Louis  as 
his  cathedral  city  January  6,  1818.  Among  the  European  recruits 
he  brought  with  him  to  Missouri  was  a  party  of  Lazarists  or 
Priests  of  the  Mission,  including  the  saintly  Father  Felix  De 
Andreis  and  Father  Joseph  Eosati,  the  future  Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 


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BISHOP  BRUTE  AND  THE  MISSION  OF  CHICAGO  79 

had ;  and  now  they  make  me  bishop  in  spite  of  all  reluctance  of 
mine  and  against  my  own  personal  conviction  as  to  the  sphere 
of  well-doing  in  which  I  should  have  been  allowed  to  remain. 

I  have  laid  before  you  all  my  weakness.  If  you  had 
named  a  man  of  talent  or  enterprise,  one  made  for  the  place, 
you  might  more  readily  leave  him  to  himself  to  create  his  own 
resources. 

But  with  me  the  case  is  quite  the  contrary — even  my 
exterior  is  against  me,  as  Mgr.  Flaget  and  yourself  realize, 
for  there  is  no  dissembling  the  fact.  All  this  calls  then  for  a 
more  generous  effort  of  zeal  in  the  interests  of  the  diocese  to 
which  you  have  together  summoned  me. 

Deign  then,  to  pray  and  deliberate  in  visceribus  Christi 
and  under  the  eyes,  as  it  were,  of  His  Vicar  on  earth,  who,  I 
am  confident,  desires  only  to  have  his  holy  enterprise  of  a  new 
diocese  succeed  and  above  all  make  a  good  beginning. 

The  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  a  church  in  regard  to 
which  the  Divine  Goodness  has  favored  you  in  so  admirable 
a  manner,  when,  too,  every  one  comes  to  respond  with  joyful 
efforts  to  your  simple  appeal,  will  be  an  auspicious  one,  I 
hope,  for  these  simple  lines;  it  is  a  child  and  a  subject  of 
St.  Louis  who  supplicates  and  the  cause,  moreover,  is  such  an 
urgent  one.  Grant,  I  beseech  you,  the  prayer  of 

Your  very  respectful  and  devoted  brother, 

SIMON  BRUTE. 

Let  me  know  the  answer  you  return  to  this  memorial  on 
Chicago." 

Below  the  signature  of  the  memorial  Bishop  Flaget 
wrote,  in  his  characteristically  trembling  script,  the  fol- 
lowing lines: 

"In  the  pitiable  and  truly  deplorable  situation  in  which 
our  dear  confrere  finds  himself  placed  through  the  choice  we 
have  made  of  him,  does  not  charity,  not  to  say  justice  even, 
require  that  we  render  the  yoke  at  least  bearable  for  him  at 
his  entrance  into  this  frightful  desert?  And  to  this  end,  could 
you  not  acquiesce  in  the  petition  of  Mgr.  Brute,  which  surely 
is  not  extravagant,  and  influence  Mr.  Condamine,  to  whom 


80  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

you  will  disclose  the  very  great  difficulties  that  beset  the  poor 
bishop  of  Vincennes,  to  defer  for  a  year  his  journey  to  France 
and  remain  at  his  post,  thus  giving  Mr.  St.  Cyr  a  chance 
to  return  to  Chicago  and  stay  there  during  that  period?10 
It  appears  to  me  that  Mr.  Condamine,  let  his  generosity  and 
feeling  be  ever  so  slight,  cannot  fail  to  enter  into  your  views. 
Hisce  expositis,  fac,  dilectissime  amice,  quod  tibi  placuerit. 
[These  representations  having  been  made,  do,  my  very  dear 
friend,  just  as  you  please]." 

This  remarkable  joint  appeal  of  the  Bishop-elect  of 
Vincennes  and  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown  was  not  with- 
out effect.  Father  St.  Cyr  was  soon  dispatched  to  Chi- 
cago with  instructions  to  remain  there  for  another  year. 

A  communication  from  Bishop  Brute  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Catholic  Telegraph  under  the  pen-name  "Vin- 
cennes" reveals  the  satisfaction  he  felt  over  the  arrange- 
ment thus  made. 

"From  Chicago  the  Bishop  had  the  pleasing  account  of 
the  return  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  St.  Cyr,  ordained  and  sent  by  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis  to  that  most  interesting  and  rapidly  grow- 

10  Father  Matthew  Condamine,  of  French  birth,  was  attached 
to  the  Saint  Louis  diocese  during  the  period  1831-1837.  Bishop 
Flaget,  it  may  be  noted  here,  had  expressed  his  satisfaction  to 
Bishop  Kosati  over  Father  St.  Cyr's  first  appointment  to  the 
Mission  of  Chicago,  then  within  the  limits  of  the  diocese  of 
Bardstown.  ' '  I  tell  you  that  you  did  very  well  to  send  Mr. 
St.  Cyr  to  Chicago  and  if  you  could  send  two  to  the  same  dis- 
trict and  even  into  Indiana,  you  would  greatly  tranquillize  the 
conscience  of  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown."  Flaget  a  Rosati,  17 
May,  1833.  Saint  Louis  Archdiocesan  Archives.  "The  Catholic 
Telegraph  published  frequently  a  Vincennes  letter  from  Bishop 
Brute,  the  'French-English'  of  which  Bishop  Purcell  'amended' 
as  Mother  Seton  had  done  in  earlier  days."  Sister  Mary  Agnes 
McCann,  Archbishop  Purcell  and  the  Archdiocese  of  Cincinnati, 
p.  22. 


BISHOP  BRUTE  AND  THE  MISSION  OF  CHICAGO  81 

ing  town,  the  southern  port  of  Lake  Michigan,  with  which  a 
canal  will  soon  connect  the  Illinois  river.  He  had  been  re- 
called to  his  own  diocese,  when  Chicago  with  a  part  of  the 
State  of  Illinois  was  attached  to  that  of  Vincennes.  Our 
Bishop  obtained  his  return  before  he  left  St.  Louis  after  his 
consecration.  A  house  built  on  the  lot  of  the  church  during 
the  absence  of  Mr.  St.  Cyr  was  with  kind  attention  prepared 
for  him.  Soon  that  most  promising  point  may  receive  Sisters ; 
perhaps  have  a  large  college,  for  in  scarcely  three  years  the 
town  has  advanced  from  a  few  scattered  houses  to  the  aston- 
ishing progress  of  about  three  thousand  souls.  Who  can  tell 
how  much  of  improvement  a  few  years  more  may  enact  for 
such  a  place.11  " 


11  Cincinnati  Catholic  Telegraph,  January  16,  1835.  At  the 
time  of  Bishop  Brute's  consecration,  there  were  only  three  priests 
in  the  entire  diocese  of  Vincennes.  ' '  Mr.  Lalumiere  took  charge  of 
the  Missions  in  the  vicinity  of  Vincennes,  but  still  25  or  30  miles 
distant,  and  in  the  whole  diocese  there  were  but  two  other 
Priests,  one  Mr.  Ferneding,  in  charge  of  the  German  missions 
150  miles  distant,  and  Mr.  St.  Cyr,  whom  Bishop  Eosati  had 
permitted  to  assist  me  for  one  year  and  who  was  stationed  in 
Chicago,  225  miles  off."  Bayley,  op.  cit.,  63. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.  CYR,  1834-1837 


The  winter  of  1834-1835,  the  first  which  Father 
St.  Cyr  spent  in  Chicago,  was  a  mild  one,  as  winters 
in  that  locality  usually  went.  But  for  one  reared  in 
the  softer  climate  of  southern  France,  it  was  trying 
enough  as  the  Father  intimates  to  Bishop  Rosati: 

St.  Cyr  to  "I    avail   myself   of   the    occasion    offered   through    Mr. 

Rosati,  Boilvin  who  leaves  today   [January  12,  1835]    for  St.  Louis 

to  let  you  hear  from  me.  Up  to  the  present  my  health  has 
been  sufficiently  good  not  to  prevent  me  from  attending  to  my 
duties,  though  I  often  experience  pains  through  my  whole 
body,  causing  me  at  times  not  a  little  suffering.  These  pains 
have  become  more  acute,  since  the  cold  weather  began  to 
moderate  a  little. 

The  winter  is  very  mild  this  year  and  if  we  are  to  believe 
the  old  Canadian  residents,  it  is  no  winter  at  all.  To  give 
you  a  more  correct  idea  of  it,  we  have  only  2  [  ?]  inches  of 
ice  and  there  has  been  skating  on  all  the  rivers  for  more  than 
a  month;  and  still  they  launch  bitter  complaints  heavenward 
because  the  ice  is  not  strong  enough.  Judge  from  this  what  a 
winter  here  must  be  when  there  is  one. 

Labor  improbus  omnia  vincit.  Our  little  chapel  is  fin- 
ished at  last,  but  not  without  many  difficulties  and  annoy- 
ances occasioned  by  the  mild  winter  of  the  Canadians.  We 
have  been  obliged  to  keep  up  a  fire  constantly  day  and  night 
to  prevent  the  plaster  from  freezing,  and  this  for  more  than 
three  weeks.  Only  at  the  end  of  this  time  were  we  able  to 
say  Mass,  but  since  then  we  have  had  Mass  and  Vespers  sung 
every  Sunday,  sometimes  to  music  though  that  is  not  always 

82 


Saint  Mary's,  the  first  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago,  erected  in 
1833  by  Father  St.  Cyr  on  the  south  side  of  Lake  Street  near 
State,  Augustine  D.  Taylor  being  architect  and  builder.  The 
photograph  shows  it  as  it  stood  in  its  third  and  last  location, 
on  the  south  side  of  Madison  Street  between  Wabash  Avenue  and 
State  Street.  Both  Cathedral  and  the  first  Saint  Mary's  Church 
were  swept  away  in  the  conflagration  of  1871. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.    CYR,   1834-1837         83 

very  harmonious.  However,  they  do  not  fail  to  make  a  noise 
and  this  is  what  is  looked  for  here.  But  it  must  be  observed 
that  if  there  is  discord  in  our  music,  it  is  owing  not  precisely 
to  any  fault  or  bad  will  on  the  part  of  the  musicians  but  to 
their  lack  of  instruments.  I  wrote  lately  to  Cincinnati  for 
song-books. 

I  will  also  state  that  though  I  speak  English  very  poorly, 
the  Americans  do  not  fail  to  come  in  crowds  to  our  church 
every  Sunday,  and  if  it  is  finished,  it  is  partly  to  their  gen- 
erosity that  I  owe  it. 

You  see  from  this,  Monseigneur,  that  our  little  church  is 
far  from  being  put  up  for  sale,  as  our  miracle-worker  said 
on  board  the  steam-boat  Michigan  (I  mean  the  Presbyterian 
minister  of  this  town).  If  there  is  any  church  that  will  keep 
on  growing,  it  is  the  Catholic  church,  though  it  be  small  in  the 
beginning,  as  is  only  natural.  And  Jeremiah  Porter,  Avho 
boldly  takes  the  name  of  pastor  in  a  circular  to  the  editor  of 
the  St.  Louis  Observer,  deceives  himself  grossly  in  taking  the 
name  of  pastor  of  a  congregation  of  60  or  80  members,  as 
he  did  on  board  the  steam-boat  Michigan,  when  he  mistook  a 
piece  of  ice  for  a  wafer !"  x 

The  spring  of  1835  found  Bishop  Brute  in  Chicago 
in  the  course  of  a  canonical  visitation  of  his  diocese.  An 
account  of  the  visit  was  communicated  by  the  Bishop  to 
the  Catholic  Telegraph  of  Cincinnati. 

"Chicago,  7th  of  May.  Of  this  place  the  growth  has  been 
surprising,  even  in  the  West,  a  wonder  amidst  its  wonders. 

1  The  incident  referred  to  occurred  on  board  a  Lake  Michi- 
gan steamer  on  which  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter,  the  first  Pres- 
byterian minister  in  Chicago,  was  a  passenger.  A  young  Catholic 
by  name  of  Thomas  Watkins,  also  a  passenger  on  the  same 
steamer,  gave  some  ice  to  two  cholera  patients  on  board  in  ac- 
cordance with  directions  given  him  by  the  ship's  doctor.  The 
minister,  who  observed  the  action,  concluded  somehow  that  the 
young  man  had  administered  the  Eucharist  to  them.  A  letter  of 
Watkins  in  explanation  of  the  affair  appeared  in  the  St.  Louis 
Shepherd  of  the  Valley,  November  15,  1834. 


THE  PASTORATE  OP  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1834-1837         83 

very  harmonious.  However,  they  do  not  fail  to  make  a  noise 
and  this  is  what  is  looked  for  here.  But  it  must  be  observed 
that  if  there  is  discord  in  our  music,  it  is  owing  not  precisely 
to  any  fault  or  bad  will  on  the  part  of  the  musicians  but  to 
their  lack  of  instruments.  I  wrote  lately  to  Cincinnati  for 
song-books. 

I  will  also  state  that  though  I  speak  English  very  poorly, 
the  Americans  do  not  fail  to  come  in  crowds  to  our  church 
every  Sunday,  and  if  it  is  finished,  it  is  partly  to  their  gen- 
erosity that  I  owe  it. 

You  see  from  this,  Monseigneur,  that  our  little  church  is 
far  from  being  put  up  for  sale,  as  our  miracle-worker  said 
on  board  the  steam-boat  Michigan  (I  mean  the  Presbyterian 
minister  of  this  town).  If  there  is  any  church  that  will  keep 
on  growing,  it  is  the  Catholic  church,  though  it  be  small  in  the 
beginning,  as  is  only  natural.  And  Jeremiah  Porter,  who 
boldly  takes  the  name  of  pastor  in  a  circular  to  the  editor  of 
the  St.  Louis  Observer,  deceives  himself  grossly  in  taking  the 
name  of  pastor  of  a  congregation  of  60  or  80  members,  as 
lie  did  on  board  the  steam-boat  Michigan,  when  he  mistook  a 
piece  of  ice  for  a  wafer !"  1 

The  spring  of  1835  found  Bishop  Brute  in  Chicago 
in  the  course  of  a  canonical  visitation  of  his  diocese.  An 
account  of  the  visit  was  communicated  by  the  Bishop  to 
the  Catholic  Telegraph  of  Cincinnati. 

"Chicago,  7th  of  May.  Of  this  place  the  growth  has  been 
surprising,  even  in  the  West,  a  wonder  amidst  its  wonders. 

1  The  incident  referred  to  occurred  on  board  a  Lake  Michi- 
gan steamer  on  which  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter,  the  first  Pres- 
byterian minister  in  Chicago,  was  a  passenger.  A  young  Catholic 
by  name  of  Thomas  Watkins,  also  a  passenger  on  the  same 
steamer,  gave  some  ice  to  two  cholera  patients  on  board  in  ac- 
cordance with  directions  given  him  by  the  ship's  doctor.  The 
minister,  who  observed  the  action,  concluded  somehow  that  the 
young  man  had  administered  the  Eucharist  to  them.  A  letter  of 
Watkins  in  explanation  of  the  affair  appeared  in  the  St.  Louis 
Shepherd  of  the  Valley,  November  15,  1834. 


84  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

From  a  few  scattered  houses  near  the  fort  it  is  become,  in  two 
or  three  years,  a  place  of  great  promise.  Its  settlers  san- 
guinely  hope  to  see  it  rank  as  the  Cincinnati  of  the  North. 
Here  the  Catholics  have  a  neat  little  church.  Americans,  Irish, 
French  and  Germans  meet  at  a  common  altar,  assembled  from 
the  most  distant  parts  of  this  vast  republic  or  come  from  the 
shores  of  Europe  to  those  of  our  lakes.  Rev.  Mr.  St.  Cyr  is 
their  pastor.  They  have  already  their  choir  supported  by  some 
of  the  musicians  of  the  garrison.  Many  of  the  officers  and  a 
number  of  the  most  respectable  Protestants  attend.  The 
Bishop  on  his  arrival  in  the  diocese  had  been  invited  by  the 
Protestants  as  well  as  the  Catholics  of  this  place  to  fix  his  resi- 
dence among  them  and  felt  his  gratitude  revived  by  the  kind 
reception  he  now  received.  During  his  stay  he  preached  three 
times  in  English  and  on  Sunday  morning  administered  the 
sacrament  of  Confirmation.  On  the  same  day  Doctor  Chase, 
the  late  Protestant  Bishop  of  Ohio,  preached  in  the  Presby- 
terian church  of  Chicago.  The  environs  of  Chicago  do  not 
appear  as  favorable  for  agriculture  as  the  situation  of  the 
town  is  for  commerce;  but  time  and  industry  may  do  much 
for  their  improvement."  '" 

We  have  seen  that  Bishop  Brute,  at  the  time  of  his 
consecration  in  St.  Louis,  had  arranged  with  Bishop 
Rosati  to  have  Father  St.  Cyr  remain  in  charge  of  the 
Catholics  of  Chicago  for  at  least  a  year  longer.  But 
Father  St.  Cyr  was  uncertain  what  his  status  would  be 
when  this  period  had  run  its  course.  He  wrote  to 
Bishop  Rosati,  August  3,  1835 : 

St.  Cyr  to  «j  }iave  just  received  a  letter  from  Monseigneur  Brute 

Augusts      advising  me  of  his  departure  for  France.     According  to  this 

-Catholic  Telegraph,  August  7,  1835.  "At  Chicago  I  had 
only  four  to  confirm  and  was  unable  to  enlarge  the  church,  the 
title  to  the  property  being  uncertain."  Brute  a  Rosati,  May 
24,  1835.  Bishop  Brute  estimated  the  Catholic  population  of 
Chicago  at  this  period  at  about  four  hundred  souls.  BAYLEY, 
Memories  of  Bishop  Brute,  69. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1834-1837         85 

letter  it  appears  that  I  am  definitely  attached  to  his  diocese 
or  at  least  am  to  spend  the  winter  in  Chicago;  but  he  makes 
no  mention  of  any  new  arrangement  with  you.  However, 
should  you  have  made  any  contract  with  him  in  virtue  of 
which  I  am  attached  to  his  diocese  for  good  or  for  some 
longer  period  than  the  twelve-month  of  which  there  was  ques- 
tion last  year,  please  have  the  goodness,  Monseigneur,  to  advise 
me  to  this  effect  as  soon  as  possible,  that  I  may  know  on 
whom  I  am  to  depend  for  orders  and  that  I  may  take  meas- 
ures against  the  severity  of  the  winter. 

I  am  very  anxious  to  renew  my  holy  oils — my  cases  are 
almost  dry.  Should  you  find  occasion  to  send  me  a  supply, 
I  shall  be  a  thousand  times  obliged  to  you. 

The  town  of  Chicago  is  growing  rapidly.  Immigration 
was  so  considerable  for  a  space  of  almost  three  weeks  that 
there  is  fear  of  a  famine.  A  barrel  of  flour  has  sold  as  high 
as  twenty  dollars. 

Many  Catholic  families  have  arrived  in  Chicago.  There 
is  no  sickness  here,  thanks  be  to  God.  I  learned  that  the 
cholera  paid  you  a  visit  and  carried  off  a  number  of  persons. 

I  asked  good  [Rev.]  Mr.  Lutz  quite  a  while  ago  for 
some  Mass  intentions.3  He  seems  to  have  forgotten  me  en- 
tirely, and  yet  I  think  very  often  of  him.  If  I  am  to  spend 
the  winter  here  I  intend  to  take  a  trip  to  St.  Louis  before 
the  end  of  fall,  Deo  adjuvants — but  all  this,  Monseigneur, 
depends  on  the  answer  you  will  send  me." 

Bishop  Rosati's  answer  to  Father  St.  Cyr  was  to 
the  effect  that  he  should  remain  at  his  post  in  Chicago 
until  the  return  of  Bishop  Brute  from  Europe,  in  which 
decision  Father  St.  Cyr  readily  acquiesced. 


3  Father  Joseph  Lutz,  born  at  Odenheim  in  Germany,  did 
missionary  work  among  the  Kansa  Indians  in  1828  and  was  sub- 
sequently assistant  pastor  at  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis  and  pas- 
tor of  St.  Patrick's  Church  in  that  city.  An  excellent  sketch  of 
him  from  first-hand  sources  by  Rev.  Francis  Holweck  was  pub- 
lished in  the  St.  Louis  Pastoral-Blatt,  October,  1917. 


86  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

"Since  it  is  your  wish  and  desire  that  I  remain  in 
Chicago  until  the  return  of  Monseigneur  Brute,  this  is  my 
wish  also  and  for  as  long  a  time  as  it  will  be  yours.  Kindly 
send  me  an  Ordo  as  soon  as  they  are  printed.  I  will  even 
make  bold  to  ask  you  for  a  half  dozen  copies  of  the  Pious 
Guide.  If  you  could  find  occasion  to  forward  them  to  me, 
I  shall  say  Masses  ccording  to  your  intentions  to  defray 
the  expense. 

Should  [Rev.]  Mr.  Lutz  have  a  German  grammar  to 
dispose  of  in  my  favor  I  shall  be  infinitely  obliged  to  him. 

Mr.  Zender,  whom  you  knew  at  the  Barrens,  has  been 
here  for  some  days.4  He  styles  himself  "doctor  and  phrenol- 
ogist distributing  Phrenological  diplomas,  etc."  It  is  probable 
that  he  will  shortly  honor  you  with  a  visit. 

There  is  nothing  of  particular  note  or  interest  here  for 
the  present.  Chicago  grows  larger  every  day  in  an  amazing 
manner.  Land  round  Chicago  is  extravagantly  high.  Mr. 
Laframboise's  house  was  reduced  to  ashes  last  week  and  it 
was  only "  with  great  trouble  that  they  saved  Mr.  Boilvin's 
which  adjoined  it.5  " 

Though  Father  St.  Cyr  was  in  Chicago  in  September, 
1835>  at  the  time  of  the  departure  of  the  Potawatomi 
1835  Indians  of  Northwestern  Illinois  for  their  new  home 

along  the  Missouri  River,  no  mention  of  the  incident 
is  to  be  met  with  in  his  correspondence.6  And  yet,  with 
the  migration  westward  of  these  Indians  he  lost  a  num- 
ber of  his  parishioners,  mixed-bloods  like  the  Lafram- 
boises,  Ouilmettes,  and  Chevaliers,  who  had  been  identi- 
fied with  St.  Mary's  church  from  the  day  that,  the 


4  The  Seminary  of  the  Lazarists,  known  as  the  ' '  Barrens, ' ' 
was  established  near  Perryville,  Perry  County,  Missouri,  in  1818. 

5  St.  Cyr  a  Rosati,  November  2,  1835. 

"Father  St.  Cyr's  letter  of  September  5,  1836,  to  Bishop 
Rosati  contains  a  reference  to  a  Potawatomi  migration  occurring 
at  that  period,  very  likely  the  one  under  Mr.  Kercheval's  manage- 
ment. See  infra,  p.  91. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.    CYR,   1834-1837         87 

Catholics  of  Chicago  sent  their  historic  petition  to  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  The  withdrawal  of  the  Indians 
from  Chicago  was  marked  by  circumstances  of  a 
dramatic  character.  Possibly  with  a  view  to  make  a 
final  display  of  their  strength  on  ground  that  had  been 
the  scene  of  many  of  their  past  triumphs,  they  marched, 
one  hot  day  in  August,  1835,  in  procession  through  the 
streets  of  Chicago.  Hideously  painted  and  clad  in  scanty 
raiment,  they  started  from  their  rendezvous  on  the 
North  Side,  crossed  to  the  West  Side  on  an  old  bridge 
over  the  North  Branch,  then  crossed  the  West  Branch 
on  Anson's  Tayor's  bridge  near  Randolph  Street  and 
with  fierce  war-whoops  and  savage  dancing  proceeded 
along  Lake  Street  to  Fort  Dearborn.  From  one  of  the 
upper  windows  of  Mark  Beaubieii's  hotel,  the  Sauga- 
nash,  Dean  Caton  watched  this  final  demonstration  of 
Indian  tribal  spirit  in  the  streets  of  Chicago,  after- 
wards putting  on  record  the  emotions  of  mingled  fas- 
cination and  alarm  which  the  spectacle  awakened  in 
those  who  witnessed  it.7 

The  emigration  of  the  Potawatomi  to  the  West  took 
place  in  September,  1835,  under  the  management  of 
Colonel  Russell.  Moving  across  Illinois  they  took  a 
southwestwardly  route  through  Iowa  and  thus  reached 
the  triangular  strip  of  land  then  claimed  by  the  Sacs 
and  Foxes  and  later  known  as  the  Platte  Purchase.8 
Here  they  tarried  for  almost  two  years,  not  moving  up 
into  the  lands  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  treaty  of  1833 
until  the  middle  of  1837.  While  still  occupying  the 
Platte  Purchase,  they  were  visited  from  the  Kickapoo 


7  CATON,  The  Last  of  the  Illinois  and  a  Sketch  of  the  Pota- 
watomies  in  Fergus  Historical  Series,  3. 

8  Encyclopedia  of  the  History  of  Missouri  [Conard]  5 :   152 ; 
BABBITT,  Early  Days  at  Council  Bluffs,  25,  26. 


88  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Mission  by  Father  Charles  Felix  Van  Quickenborne, 
founder  of  the  Missouri  Province  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  who,  on  January  29,  1837,  baptized  fourteen 
Indian  children  in  the  Potawatomi  camp  opposite  Fort 
Leavenworth.  The  first  of  the  number  baptized, 
Susanne,  the  six-month  old  daughter  of  Claude  Lafram- 
boise  and  a  Potawatomi  woman,  had  William  or  as  he 
was  familiarly  known  in  Chicago,  "Billy"  Caldwell,  for 
godfather,  who  also  stood  sponsor  for  two  more  of  the 
children.  Other  sponsors  on  this  occasion  were  Claude 
Laframboise,  Toussaint  Chevalier,  Joseph  Chevalier, 
Francis  Bourbonet  [Bourbonnois]  and  Michael  Arcoit. 
Father  Van  Quickenborne  was  in  fact  dealing  with  a 
group  of  ex-residents  of  Chicago  or  its  vicinity,  some 
of  whose  names  had  appeared  on  the  poll-book  of  the 
election  of  1826,  the  first  in  the  history  of  the  city.9 

During  their  occupancy  of  the  Council  Bluffs 
reservation  (1837-1848)  the  Potawatomi  were  minis- 
tered to  for  a  while  by  the  Jesuits  of  Missouri,  who 
opened  St.  Joseph's  Mission  at  Council  Bluffs  in  re- 
sponse to  a  petition  from  the  Indians  signed  at  Fountain 
Blue  on  the  Missouri  River,  September  12,  1837,  by 
Wa-bon-su  [Wa-pon-seh,  Waubansee]  and  fourteen  of 
his  fellow  tribesmen.10 

The  familiar  names  of  the  Chicago  half-breed  Pota- 
watomi recur  in  the  baptismal  and  marriage  records  of 
the  Mission.11  On  August  15,  1838,  Father  Peter  De 


0  The  Kickapoo  Mission  Baptismal  Register  rests  in  the  ar- 
chives of  St.  Mary's  College,  St.  Mary's,  Kansas. 

10  Files  of  the  Indian  Bureau,  Washington. 

11  These  records  are  in  the  archives  of  St.  Mary 's  College,  St. 
Mary's,  Kansas.    At  Council  Bluffs  the  Jesuit  missionary,  Father 
De  Smet,  made  the  acquaintance  of  Billy  Caldwell,  to  whom  he 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1834-1837         89 

Smet,  the  noted  Indian  missionary,  performed  two  mar- 
riage ceremonies  at  Council  Bluffs,  the  first  recorded 
in  the  history  of  the  place.  The  contracting  parties 
were  Pierre  Chevalier  and  Kwi-wa-te-no-kwe  and  Louis 
"Wilmot  [Ouilmette]  and  Marie  Wa-wiet-mo-kwe.  Janu- 
ary 2,  1839,  the  same  priest  married  William  Caldwell 
to  Susanne  Misnakwe.  That  chief  again  appears  as  god- 
father, this  time  to  John  Naakeze,  baptized  at  the  age 
approximately  of  102  years  by  Father  De  Smet,  De- 
cember 29,  1838.  In  1848  the  Council  Bluffs  Potawa- 
tomi  were  united  with  the  Osage  River  branch  of  the 
tribe  on  a  common  reservation  along  the  Kaw  River  in 
what  is  now  the  State  of  Kansas.  Here  they  came  under 
the  spiritual  care  of  the  Jesuits  of  St.  Mary's  Mission. 
The  baptismal,  marriage  and  burial  registers  of  that 
Mission  frequently  record  the  names  of  Beaubiens, 
Ouilmettes,  Laframboises  and  other  former  Potawatomi 
mixed-bloods  of  Chicago  and  its  vicinity.  It  is  an  in- 
teresting reflection  that  the  Society  of  Jesus  which  gave 
Chicago  its  first  priest  in  the  person  of  Father  Mar- 
quette  and  its  first  resident  pastor  in  the  person  of 
the  Miami  missionary,  Father  Pinet,  found  itself  for 
years  the  spiritual  guardian  of  the  Potawatomi  Indians, 
the  immediate  predecessors  of  the  whites  in  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  Chicago  terrain  and  a  picturesque  factor  in 
the  pioneer  social  life  of  the  future  metropolis. 

In  the  summer  of  1836  Bishop  Brute  returned  from 
his  recruiting  journey  to  Europe  bringing  with  him  a 


thus  refers  in  a  letter:  "Mr.  C[aldwell]  though  far  advanced 
in  years  seems  to  be  a  very  worthy,  honest  man:  he  is  well  dis- 
posed towards  us The  chief  [Caldwell]  has  given  us  pos- 
session of  three  cabins."  CHITTENDEN  AND  RICHARDSON'S  De 
Smet,  1:  157. 


90  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

number  of  French  priests  whose  services  he  had  secured 
for  his  diocese.  Of  the  number  were  Fathers  Celestine 
de  la  Hailandiere  and  Maurice  de  St.  Palais,  successors 
of  Bishop  Brute  in  the  see  of  Vincennes.  In  the  arrival 
of  these  clerical  reinforcements  Father  St.  Cyr  saw  an 
opportunity  to  be  relieved  of  his  duties  in  Chicago  and 
return  to  the  St.  Louis  diocese. 

He  wrote  to  Bishop  Eosati  July  15,  1836 : 

"I  received  a  letter  from  Mons.  Brute  a  few  days  ago 
in  which  he  gives  me  to  understand  that  he  will  be  at 
Vincennes  towards  the  end  of  July.  I  beg  you  therefore, 
Monseigneur,  to  recall  me  to  your  diocese,  as  soon  as  he 
returns,  or  rather  do  you  arrange  the  matter  definitely  with 
him;  for  I  cannot  remain  any  more  as  I  am,  deprived  of 
everything,  even  of  the  succors  of  my  religion,  and  not 
knowing  to  whom  to  have  recourse  in  cases  of  necessity." 

In  September,  Father  Bernard  Schaeffer,  a  native 
of  Strassburg  in  Alsace,  one  of  Bishop  Brute's  clerical 
recruits,  was  in  Chicago  zealously  co-operating  in  the 
ministry  with  Father  St.  Cyr,  as  we  learn  from  a  com- 
munication of  the  latter  to  Bishop  Rosati  under  date 
of  September  5,  1836 : 

"To  judge  from  your  letter,  it  seems  to  be  your  wish 
that  I  remain  in  Chicago  until  Monseigneur  Brute  has  another 
priest  to  replace  me.  Nothing  seems  to  me  to  be  more  reason- 
able; at  the  same  time  I  do  not  promise  to  remain  at  Chicago 
another  year  longer  or  even  to  spend  the  winter  there  in  the 
situation  in  which  I  find  myself  at  present.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  the  affairs  of  the  church  of  Chicago  are  in  such  state 
that  they  allow  of  no  further  delay;  they  constrain  me  as  a 
consequence  to  make  a  trip  to  St.  Louis  and  from  there  to 
Vincennes  to  confer  about  them  with  Monseigneur  Brute.  I 
leave  the  congregation  until  my  return  to  the  zealons  care  of 
Mr.  Schaeffer,  a  German  priest,  who  has  been  here  with  me 
for  some  weeks  and  is  destined  for  Chicago.  , 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.    CYR,    1834-1837         91 

I  am  bringing  two  sons  of  Mr.  Deodat  Taylor  along 
with  me  to  the  college  of  St.  Louis;  I  hope  to  leave  at  the 
end  of  this  week.12 

I  have  said  five  Masses  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of 
Mr.  Condamine.  His  death  has  greatly  distressed  me.  All 
the  Indians  are  here  at  Chicago.  They  are  receiving  their 
final  payment  and  are  going  to  journey  towards  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Veteres  migrate  coloni  et  dulcia  linquimus  arva.13 
I  long  to  see  you,  Monseigneur,  as  well  as  Messrs.  Lutz  and 
Louis  de  Fontbonne." 

In  January,  1837,  Father  St.  Cyr  conveyed  to  Bishop 
Rosati  the  surprising  intelligence  that  the  Catholics  of 
Chicago  were  unable  to  support  two  resident  priests : 

"I  am  writing  you  this  letter  to  inform  you  of  a  situation    st.  Cyr  to 
which  may  appear  to  you  to  be  somewhat  strange;  be  this    Rosati, 
as  it  may,  I  hasten  to  make  it  known  to  you  so  as  to  have    Januarv,  1837 
a   decision   from   you   in   answer  to   this   letter   as   soon   as 
possible  and  thus  know  what  I  am  to  do  under  the  circum- 
stances. 

It  is  impossible  for  two  priests  to  live  here  in  Chicago 
without  running  into  debt.  Everything  is  extraordinarily 
dear,  while  the  majority  of  Catholics  are  poor  and  without 
means  to  support  their  families.  Hotel  rates  run  from  $15 
to  $20  a  month.  I  have  myself  up  to  the  present  time  been 
paying  $10  a  month;  and  yet  this  appears  to  be  a  favor 
towards  me  from  Mr.  Medard  Beaubien,  with  whom  I  have 
been  boarding  for  more  than  a  year,  and  to  whom  I  owe  a 
thousand  sentiments  of  gratitude  for  all  the  kindnesses  which 
he  together  with  his  wife  have  ever  shown  in  my  regard.14 

12  Anson  and  Deodat,  sons  of  Deodat  Taylor  of  Chicago,  were 
entered  in  the  Mercantile  Department  of  Saint  Louis  University 
in  October,  1836.     Deodat   (Adeodatus)   was  baptized  by  Bishop 
Rosati  in  the  University  Chapel,  January  14,  1838. 

13  See  supra,  p.  86.    The  Latin  which  follows  is  a  combination 
of  disconnected  lines  from  Virgil,  to  be  translated,  ' '  migrate,  old 
settlers,  and,  we  leave  behind  these  pleasant  fields." 

14  Medard  or  Madore  Beaubien,  son  of  Col.  J.  B.  Beaubien, 


92  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

But  for  several  reasons  I  shall  be  obliged  to  go  and  board 
elsewhere  until  my  departure.  This  puts  me  in  the  way  of 
incurring  debts,  while  the  Catholics,  having  learned  that  I 
am  to  quit  Chicago,  make  a  difficulty  about  contributing  to 
the  support  of  the  priest.  The  result  is  that  the  uncertainty 
regarding  the  length  of  my  stay  in  Chicago  has  been  to  me 
a  constant  source  of  trouble  and  anxiety,  and  the  reason 
why  I  have  so  often  lacked  the  most  necessary  things. 

Mr.  Schaeffer  finds  himself  almost  in  the  same  situation 
as  myself.  He  declared  to  me  positively  yesterday  evening 
that,  in  view  of  the  circumstances,  one  of  us  two  ought 
absolutely  to  go  and  start  another  parish  either  on  the 
canal  or  some  place  else,  a  thing  impossible  just  now  seeing 
that  we  have  only  a  single  chalice  and  a  single  missal.15  I 


followed  his  Potawatomi  relatives  to  the  Kaw  Eiver  Eeserve.  He 
gave  the  land  on  which  the  town  of  Silver  Lake,  in  Shawnee 
County,  was  laid  out,  and  was  three  times  mayor  of  the  town. 
Silver  Lake  is  twelve  miles  east  of  St.  Mary's,  one-time  site  of 
the  well-known  Catholic  Potawatomi  Mission.  Madore,  Beaubien 
and  Theresa  Streets  in  Silver  Lake,  the  last  named  for  Madore 's 
wife,  preserve  the  memory  of  this  one-time  influential  citizen  of 
Chicago.  See  Emma  Cowes  Richerter,  A  History  of  Silver  Lalce, 
Kansas,  p.  5.  Medard  Beaubien  had  "the  reputation  of  being 

the  handsomest  man  that  was  ever  in  this  city He  gave 

as  reason  for  abandoning  Chicago,  where  he  was  a  merchant,  that 
he  would  rather  be  a  big  Indian  than  a  little  white  man." — Hon. 
John  Wentworth.  in  the  Chicago  Times,  May  8,  1876. 

15  The  construction  of  the  Michigan  and  Illinois  Canal  was 
authorized  in  1835  by  a  bill  of  the  Illinois  State  Legislature. 
The  project  was  meant  to  provide  a  Lakes-to-the-Gulf  waterway 
by  connecting  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Chicago  River  with  the 
Illinois  and  Mississippi  Rivers.  ' '  The  contractors  who  had  the 
work  in  hand,  sent  circulars  to  all  the  seaports  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Canadas,  which  were  distributed  among  the  emi- 
grants, who  were  at  this  time  coming  in  multitudes  to  America. 
Thousands  started  westward  to  find  ready  work  and  it  is  a 
noticeable  fact  that  the  majority  were  from  Ireland,  as  the  tide 
of  emigration  from  the  Green  Isle  to  America  set  in  at  this 
time."  McGovERN,  The  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago,  p.  14. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1834-1837         93 

told  him  thereupon  that  I  would  write  to  you  and  do  every- 
thing I  possibly  could  to  hasten  my  departure,  already  desii-ed 
so  long  a  while  back  and  yet  repeatedly  delayed  or  put  off. 
I  shall  leave  with  all  the  more  pleasure  that  Mr.  Schaeffer 
can  now  preach  in  English  and  hear  confessions  much  better 
than  I  could  the  first  time  I  came  to  Chicago. 

I  beg  you,  Monseigneur,  to  take  this  matter  under  con- 
sideration. I  beg  you  also  to  tell  me,  if  it  be  possible,  what 
will  be  the  location  of  my  second  mission  so  I  can  have  the 
newspapers  I  receive  at  Chicago  sent  to  that  address;  tell 
me  too,  what  English  books  from  my  library,  such  as  I  can 
easily  procure  for  myself  elsewhere,  I  may  leave  with  Mr. 
Schaeffer,  who  has  almost  no  books  at  all. 

I  am  going  to  write  directly  on  this  matter  to  Monseigneur 
Brute,  as  will  also  Mr.  Schaeffer.  We  have  not  yet  received 
the  Ordo.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  is  to  you,  Monseigneur, 
that  I  ought  to  apply  for  it  or  to  Monseigneur  Brute.  If  you 
could  send  me  a  copy,  I  will  discharge  Mass  intentions,  as 
far  as  will  be  necessary." 

The  representations  made  by  Father  St.  Cyr  in  the 
preceding  letter  were  not  without  effect.  He  was  at  last 
definitely  recalled  to  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  as  he  in- 
timates in  a  communication  to  Bishop  Rosati,  March  4, 
1837: 

"I  received  your  letter  of  February  23  today.  I  hasten 
to  answer  it  and  to  let  you  know  that  I  shall  do  every  thing 
in  my  power  to  follow  out  your  orders  despite  great  difficulties 
in  the  way.  If  I  cannot  go  on  to  St.  Louis  before  Holy  Week 
as  you  desire  me  to  do,  it  will  not  be  through  any  lack  of 
good  will  on  my  part,  but  because  circumstances  will  not 
allow  it. 

It  is  with  considerable  pain,  Monseigneur,  that  I  s.ee 
myself  forced  to  sell  a  portion  of  my  books  to  pay  part  of 
my  travelling  expenses,  and  even  so,  I  shall  be  obliged  to 
borrow  money,  but  from  whom  I  do  not  know. 

When  I  went  to  Vincennes,  I  did  everything  in  my  power 
to  get  a  chalice  and  missal  for  Mr.  Schaeffer.  But  all  my 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

efforts  were  in  vain,  so  that  you  will  not  take  it  amiss,  Mon- 
seigneur, if  I  leave  the  chalice  and  missal  with  Mr.  Schaeffer. 
He  will  return  them  as  soon  as  he  can  procure  others  in  their 
place.  Sacrifice  on  sacrifice." 

Two  weeks  later  Father  St.  Cyr  again  addressed 
Bishop  Rosati,  declaring  in  emphatic  terms  his  willing- 
ness to  remain  in  Chicago  should  the  Bishop  judge  that 
the  good  of  souls  demanded  this  arrangement. 

St.  Cyr  to  «  j  £eej  certam  that  yOU  received  my  letter,  which  was 

March  1837  an  answer  to  your  own  of  February  23,  and  which  notified 
you  that  you  might  expect  me  in  St.  Louis  for  Holy  Week, 
if  nothing  untoward  occurred.  However,  in  spite  of  my  good 
intentions,  I  have  been  unable  to  realize  my  own  wishes  or 
to  comply  with  yours.  The  news  of  my  departure  coming  at 
the  very  moment  when  a  large  number  were  making  ready  to 
fulfill  their  religious  duties  fell  like  a  thunderstroke  on  the 
whole  congregation,  many  of  whom  will  be  unable  to  receive 
the  sacraments  supposing  that  I  leave  next  week  as  I  had 
intended  to  do  in  order  to  be  able  to  reach  St.  Louis  by 
Holy  Week.  Hence,  Monseigneur,  to  avoid  inconvenience  and 
quiet  the  people  a  little  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  defer 
my  departure  until  after  Easter  Sunday.  I  have  heard  some 
talk  of  a  petition  which  they  have  sent  you  to  prevail  upon 
you  to  leave  me  in  Chicago. 

As  to  myself,  Monseigneur,  my  whole  desire  is  to  do  the 
holy  will  of  God,  to  go  and  remain  where  ever  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  salvation  of  souls  should  call  me  through  the 
voice  of  my  superiors,  firmly  persuaded  as  I  am  that  nihil  mihi 
deerit  in  loco  pascuae  ubi  me  collocavit  [nothing  will  be 
wanting  to  me  in  the  place  of  pasture  where  He  hath  set 
me] .  If  then,  Monseigneur,  you  think  it  God's  holy  will  that  I 
establish  myself  definitely  in  Chicago  or  its  neighborhood,  say 
so  boldly,  and  despite  the  difficulties  that  start  up  on  every 
side,  I  am  ready  to  obey  and  submit  my  will  to  yours,  to 
embrace  with  my  whole  heart  this  mission  of  Chicago  and 
share  with  my  worthy  confrere,  Mr.  Schaeffer,  its  hardships 
and  merits. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.    CYR,    1834-1837         95 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  think  it  God's  will  that  I  return 
to  your  diocese,  then,  cost  what  it  may,  I  will  tear  myself 
away  from  the  midst  of  my  flock  and  away  from  my  first- 
born, I  will  obey  and  go  whithersoever  I  am  sent  in  the 
firm  conviction  that  vir  obediens  loquetur  victorias  [the 
obedient  man  will  speak  of  victories]. 

For  the  rest  I  will  leave  everything  to  your  decision; 
what  you  tell  me  to  do,  I  will  do. 

Mr.  Schaeffer  is  just  now  indisposed  as  a  consequence 
of  an  attack  of  headache  which  he  experiences  almost  regu- 
larly every  month  and  which  torments  him  severely  for  the 
space  of  forty-eight  hours. 

Yesterday  the  outskirts  of  Chicago  and  Chicago  itself 
were  entirely  covered  with  ice  and  snow.  Today  everything 
is  flooded  for  at  this  moment  the  rain  is  coming  down  in 
torrents.  The  roads  and  streets  of  Chicago  are  impassible." 

The  news  that  Father  St.  Cyr  had  been  recalled  to  Potion  of 

Chicago 

his  own  diocese  of  St.  Louis  came  as  a  shock  to  the  catholics 
Catholics  of  Chicago.  Eager  to  retain  the  services  of 
this  zealous  priest,  they  addressed  a  memorial  on  the 
subject  to  Bishop  Rosati.  It  is  a  noteworthy  testimony 
to  the  esteem  in  which  Father  St.  Cyr  was  held  by  his 
Chicago  parishioners,  and  deserves  to  be  here  reproduced 
in  extenso : 

"To  the  Rt.  Revd.  Doctor  Rosati,  St.  Louis : 

"The  undersigned  Roman  Catholic  inhabitants  of  the 
town  of  Chicago  have  heard  with  the  deepest  regret  that 
you  have  recalled  the  Revd.  Mr.  St.  Cyr  from  this  Mission 
and  as  such  an  event  would  in  their  opinion  be  productive  of 
injurious  consequences  to  the  cause  of  Catholic  truth  in  this 
place,  they  humbly  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
actual  situation  of  our  people  in  this  Mission  and  request 
that  you  will  carefully  consider  all  the  circumstances  previous 
to  such  removal. 

They  would  in  the  first  place  inform  your  Grace  that 
the  Revd.  Mr.  St.  Cyr  by  his  exemplary  conduct,  great  zeal 


96  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

in  the  cause  of  religion  and  incessant  perseverance  has  en- 
deared himself  to  every  member  of  our  congregation  and  is 
highly  esteemed  by  the  members  of  other  denominations,  and 
having  acquired  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  English  language 
to  enable  him  to  preach  and  instruct  with  fluency  and  elo- 
quence, they  conceive  that  his  removal  would  be  a  subject  of 
bereavement  to  the  whole  congregation. 

That  his  associate  Rev.  Mr.  Schaeffer  although  equally 
distinguished  for  piety  and  zeal  has  but  an  imperfect  knowl- 
edge of  the  English  language  and  is  consequently  unfitted  for 
discharging  the  spiritual  duties  of  a  pastor  among  an  English 
population. 

That  we  have  in  this  town  two  thousand  and  perhaps 
more  Catholics  as  there  are  a  large  number  of  Catholic 
families  in  the  adjacent  country  particularly  on  the  line  of 
the  Chicago  and  Illinois  canal,  the  great  body  of  labourers 
on  which  are  Catholics,  to  all  of  whom  the  clergy  here  must 
render  spiritual  assistance.  The  attention  therefore  of  a 
clergyman  speaking  the  English  language  will  be  indispens- 
ably necessary  and  they  would  humbly  represent  that  nothing 
but  the  most  urgent  necessity  should  induce  the  removal  of  a 
man  from  such  a  vast  field  of  labor  who  is  so  beloved  and 
revered  by  his  congregation. 

That  as  our  church  is  totally  inadequate  to  contain  the 
fourth  part  of  the  attending  congregation,  we  have  taken 
the  preliminary  steps  to  erect  a  new  chapel  capable  of  ac- 
commodating our  large  and  increasing  society.  The  removal 
of  the  Revd.  Mr.  St.  Cyr  will  operate  to  retard  and  delay 
the  work  so  much  desired  not  only  by  Catholics  but  by  various 
members  of  other  denominations. 

That  as  this  is  the  most  important  place  in  the  State,  as 
the  population  is  so  rapidly  increasing  that  we  can  in  a  few 
years  justly  expect  a  Catholic  population  of  several  thousand 
and  as  one  clergyman  cannot  possibly  discharge  the  duties 
annexed  to  it,  good  policy  as  well  as  duty  require  that  we 
should  have  clergymen  stationed  here  capable  by  their  example 
of  inspiring  respect,  by  their  talents  of  dissipating  ignorance 
and  prejudice  and  by  their  zeal  and  perseverance  of  building 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1834-1837         97 

up   in  this  new  region  the  imperishable  monuments   of  our 
holy  religion. 

We  therefore  humbly  entreat  your  Grace  not  to  deprive 
us  of  a  dearly  beloved  pastor  at  the  commencement  of  his 
usefulness,  but  to  leave  him  Avhere  his  zeal  and  virtues  are 
so  well  appreciated  and  so  likely  to  respond  to  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  church.16  " 

The  efforts  of  the  Catholics  of  Chicago  to  retain  the 
services  of  Father  St.  Cyr  were  not  successful.  He 
left  Chicago  for  St.  Louis,  April  17,  1837,  and  in  the 
following  June  was  assigned  by  Bishop  Rosati  to  the 
mission  of  Quincy,  Illinois,  from  which  place  he  made 
periodical  excursions  to  the  Catholics  of  the  neighboring 
counties.17 


16  St.  Louis  Archdiocesan  Archives. 

17  Father   St.   Cyr 's  baptismal,  marriage   and  burial  records, 
all  contained  in  one  register  now  resting  in  the  parish  archives 
of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Chicago,  afford  authentic  information  of 
his  ministerial  activities  during  his  stay  in  Chicago.     On  May  22, 
1833,  he  baptized  George,  son  of   Mark  Beaubien  and   Monique 
Nadeau.     This,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  is  the  first  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacrament  in  Chicago  attested  by  documentary  evi- 
dence.    Among  the   baptisms   subsequently   conferred  by   Father 
St.  Cyr  in  Chicago  were  the  following: 

June  5,  1833,  Caroline,  daughter  of  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien 
and  Josette  Laframboise.  Godparents:  John  Whistler  and 
Esther  Bailly. 

June  5,  1833,  Marguerite,  daughter  of  Solomon  Jnneau  and 
Josette  Vieau.  (Solomon  Juneau  was  the  founder  of  Milwaukee.) 

June  17,  3833,  Francis,  son  of  Francis  Bourbonnois  and  Ho- 
setta  Ashani  of  Ottaway  (Ottawa). 

August  30,  1833,  Francois,  son  of  Joseph  Laframboise  and 
Jacquet  Peltier.  Godparents:  Mark  Beaubien  and  Josette  La- 
framboise. 

June  28,  1834,  Joseph,  son  of  John  Welsh  and  Marie  Louise 
Wimette.  (This  is  the  first  person  of  Irish  extraction  whose 
baptism  is  recorded  in  Chicago.)  Marie  Wimette  (Ouilmette) 


98  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Brute's  jf  the  services  of  Father  St.  Cyr  were  thus  lost  to 

to  Retain     the  Catholics  of  Chicago,  it  was  not  for  lack  of  repeated 

fit.  Cyr 

was  a  daughter  of  Louis  Ouilmette.  According  to  the  Fergus 
Historical  Series,  7:  56,  art.  "Chicago  Marriages  Recorded  in 
Peoria  Co.,"  John  B.  Beaubien  on  May  11,  1830,  married  Michael 
Welch  or  Welsh  and  Elizabeth  Ouilmette. 

"He  was  our  first  [?]  Irishman  and  his  wife  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  Antoine  Ouilmette  of  Ouilmette 's  reservation  in  this 
county. ' ' 

Among  the  signers  of  the  1833  petition  of  the  Catholics  of 
Chicago  was  Patrick  Walsh.  See  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Re- 
view, 2 :  467,  for  information  concerning  these  early  Welshes  or 
Walshes  of  Chicago  and  their  claim  to  be  considered  the  first 
Irishmen  in  the  city. 

June  28,  1834.  Josette  Beaubien,  wife  of  Jean  Baptiste 
Beaubien.  (Josette  Laframboise,  wife  of  Colonel  Beaubien,  was 
of  mixed  French  and  Ottawa  blood.) 

June  28,  1834.  Alexander,  son  of  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien 
and  Josette  Laframboise. 

December  22,  1834.  Robert  Jerome  Beaubien,  son  of  Jean 
Baptiste  Beaubien.  Godparents:  Robert  Kinzie  and  Gwenthalin 
Whistler. 

August    25,    1835.     Abram    [?]    Schwartz,   son   of   — 
Schwartz    and    Marie    Belbare    [?].      (The    handwriting    of    this 
entry  is  difficult  to  decipher.     Schwartz  is  the  first  German  name 
occurring  in  the  register.) 

Totaling  up  Father  St.  Cyr's  baptisms  in  Chicago,  we  find 
them  to  number  19  in  1833,  12  in  1834,  14  in  1835,  36  in  1836, 
and  12  in  1837.  His  last  baptismal  entry  is  dated  March  19,  1837. 
Father  Schaeffer's  baptisms,  as  entered  in  the  St.  Mary's  Rig- 
ister,  range  from  September  5,  1836,  to  July  24,1837.  They 
include  five  administered  on  the  same  day,  April  20,  1837,  in 
Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  Baptized  on  this  occasion  by  Father 
Schaeffer  were  Matilda,  daughter  of  Solomon  Juneau  and  Josette 
Vieau,  and  ' '  Margaret  Klark,  sixteen  years  of  age,  born  amongst 
the  Indians."  These  Milwaukee  baptisms  appear  to  be  the  earli- 
est on  record  for  that  city. 

Father    St.    Cyr's    second   marriage   in    Chicagc    bears    date 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.    CYR,   1834-1837         99 

efforts  on  Bishop  Brute's  part  to  retain  him  for  his 
diocese.  The  latter  wrote  to  Bishop  Eosati,  March  11, 
1837: 


March  — ,  1835,  when  he  married  Mark  Bourassa,  son  of  Daniel 
Bourassa,  and  Josette  Chevalier,  daughter  of  Louis  Chevalier,  and 
"gave  them  the  nuptial  benediction  in  the  Catholic  Church  of 
Chicago."  His  first  marriage  in  the  city  dated  1834,  month  and 
day  not  recorded,  appears  to  have  been  that  of  N.  Murphy  and 
Mrs.  M.  Frauner(?). 

Father  St.  Cyr  officiated  at  only  twelve  burials  during  his 
pastorate  at  St.  Mary's.  In  June,  1834,  was  buried  "one  of  the 
daughters  of  Mr.  Colewell  [Caldwell]  agent  of  the  Indians."  In 
July  of  the  same  year,  day  of  the  month  unrecorded,  was  buried 
Mr.  Braner  [Brennan?]  "recently  arrived  from  Ireland,"  who 
died  suddenly  and  was  interred  ' '  according  to  the  rites  of  the 
Catholic  Church." 

For  access  to  Father  Cyr's  Register  the  writer  is  indebted 
to  the  courtesy  of  the  Paulist  Fathers  in  charge  of  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Chicago. 

Father  St.  Cyr  died  February  21,  1883,  at  Nazareth  Convent, 
a  house  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  a  short  distance  beyond  the 
southern  limits  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  A  sketch  of  his  life  after 
he  left  Chicago  may  be  read  in  Zurbonsen,  In  Memoriam,  a  Cler- 
ical Bead  Eoll  of  the  Diocese  of  Alton,  Illinois.  Data  concern- 
ing the  missionary  activities  of  Father  St.  Cyr  outside  of  Chicago 
will  be  found  in  the  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Revieiv,  July, 
1920,  art.  "Northwestern  Part  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis,"  by 
Rev.  John  Rothensteiner,  who  draws  this  interesting  picture  of 
Father  St.  Cyr:  "It  was  in  1878  that  I,  as  a  seminary  student, 
visited  the  blind  old  man,  the  last  link  then  connecting  the  heroic 
days  of  Bishop  DuBourg  and  Rosati  with  the  living,  progressive 
present,  in  his  retreat  at  Nazareth  Convent.  He  was  a  man  of 
small  stature,  with  hands  and  face  of  translucent  whiteness,  as 
of  pure  wax.  Being  unable  to  read  the  Ordinary  of  the  Mass,  he 
was  permitted  to  say  the  Votive  Mass  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  every 


100  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

"I  fear  it  is  too  late  and  quite  impossible  to  request  that 

Mr.  St.  Cyr  protract  his  stay  a  little  while  longer and 

yet,  see  how  many  priests  you  have,  my  good  Bishop — aready 
51  and  4  more  whom  you  are  going  to  ordain.  As  to  the 
chalice  which  he  has  in  Chicago,  if  Mr.  Lalumiere  has  not 
got  back  those  that  were  sent  to  St.  Louis  to  be  gilded,  you 
might  keep  one  of  them  and  Mr.  St.  Cyr  could  leave  his  own 
in  Chicago." 

In  two  letters  addressed  in  May  of  the  same  year  to 
the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  Brute  reveals  how  keenly  he 
felt  over  the  situation  in  Chicago  where  Father  Schaeffer 
was  left  to  minister  single-handed  to  the  Catholic  popu- 
lation now  going  forward  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

"I  have  not  been  urging  you  earnestly  enough  or  with 
confidence  enough  in  our  Divine  Master  to  acquiesce  in 
Mr.  St.  Cyr's  wishes  and  my  own,  at  least  for  a  few  months 
longer.  I  am  so  sick  I  do  not  think  I  am  in  a  condition  to 
go  to  Chicago  to  see  my  worthy  Mr.  Schaeffer.  It  has  been 
a  great  consolation  to  me  to  see  them  [Messrs.  St.  Cyr  and 
Schaeffer]  so  ready  to  help  each  other — and  you  have  seen 
from  St.  Cyr's  detailed  letter  that  the  care  of  2000  Catholics 
is  in  question.  What  hope  them  for  Dubuque  and  the  whole 

of  Northern  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  Territory Be  so 

good  as  to  take  this  last  remark  into  consideration — do  it, 
I  implore  you,  well-beloved  and  venerated  colleague,  not 
for  me  but  for  the .  great  common  cause.  I  believe  that  this 
provisional  arrangement,  even  after  all  the  favors  you  have 
already  granted,  will  be  blessed  of  God,  as  He  has  blessed 
it  in  the  past,  for  you  have  already  doubled  the  number  of 
clergy  in  your  diocese  since  1834,  when  on  second  thought 
you  agreed  to  send  Mr.  St.  Cyr  back  to  Chicago. 


day.  And  I  was  told  he  did  so  regularly  with  the  assistance  of 
another  priest.  Little  did  I  know  then  of  the  importance  of  this 
feeble  old  man  in  his  earlier  days;  but  his  presence  impressed  me 
as  that  of  a  saint,  the  bright  sun  of  whose  soul  was  breaking 
through  the  thin  veil  of  the  body  containing  it." 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1834-1837      101 

Since  my  return  I  hear  nothing  spoken  about  except 
emigrants  and  the  cry  for  priests  that  goes  up  on  every 
side.  What  shall  we  do,  especially  as  our  French  priests  are, 
many  of  them  at  least,  still  quite  too  weak  in  English?  And 
as  for  German  priests — alas !  Where  shall  we  find  them  ?  It 
is  heart-breaking.  I  should  think  it  necessary,  the  need  is  so 
pressing,  that  we  write  to  the  Bishops  of  Ireland  or  Germany. 
I  intend  to  write  at  least  to  Keane,  the  Vice-President  of  the 
Irish  Seminary.  How  I  tremble  to  think  in  this  situation, 
which  must  be  the  same  for  yourself,  that  you  do  not  grant 
me  the  extension  of  time  which  Mr.  St.  Cyr  himself  solicits, 
and  which  would  be  so  capital  a  thing  for  the  North — for 
Wisconsin  even  and  that  soon,  if  only  Chicago  be  given  time 
to  get  her  strength.  At  any  rate,  I  have  ventured  to  entreat 
you  again  in  a  letter  which  you  will  have  found  in  Cincinnati. 
Ah!  Monseigneur,  grant  me  all  you  possibly  can.  I  have  no 
second  priest  to  send  to  Mr.  Schaeffer  for  those  2000,  perhaps 
at  present  3000  Catholics,  so  amazing  a  thing  is  this  deluge 
of  Catholic  emigration.18  " 

By  July  Bishop  Brute  felt  that  he  must  acquiesce 
in  the  loss  of  Father  St.  Cyr,  "that  great  favor  con- 
ferred by  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  on  our  own";  but 
he  was  deeply  grateful  to  the  Bishop  of  Saint  Louis  for 
having  been  permitted  to  retain  so  long  the  services  of 
that  zealous  priest: 

''Nothing  remains  for  me,  Monseigneur  but  to  thank  you 
with  the  fullest  outpouring  of  my  heart  for  all  the  good  which 


18  Brute  a  Eosati,  May  7,  1837;  May  19,  1839.  Though  still 
without  an  adequate  supply  of  priests,  the  diocese  of  Vincennes 
showed  considerable  growth  during  the  period  1834-37.  "As  to 
Missionaries,  instead  of  the  total  of  2  (Fathers  Lalumiere  and 
Badin)  which  appeared  in  the  almanac  of  1835  and  which  aston- 
ished the  Holy  Father  himself,  behold  us  now  sixteen  priests  and 
we  shall  be  eighteen  when  you  read  these  lines."  Letter  of 
Brute,  May  24,  1837,  in  the  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi, 
10:  159. 


102  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Mr.  St.  Cyr  lias  done  in  Chicago  during  the  protracted  stay 
you  have  accorded  him,  nor  can  I  murmur  in  any  wise  against 
his  recall.  I  bless,  too,  this  excellent  priest  and  shall  never 
think  of  him  before  God  other  than  as  the  pastor  of  a  parish 
which  he  has  in  very  truth  created  and  where  I  hope  his 
memory  will  continue  long  to  encourage  this  new  flock  to 
preserve  and  his  successor  to  enlarge  still  further  the  great 
amount  of  initial  good  that  has  been  accomplished."19 

Father  Schaeffer  did  not  long  survive  the  departure 
of  Father  St.  Cyr  from  Chiacgo.  "I  announce  with 
grief,"  wrote  Bishop  Brute  to  the  Leopoldine  Associa- 
tion of  Vienna,  "that  I  have  lost  one  of  my  excellent 
fellow-workers  by  death.  Mr.  Schaeffer  of  Strassburg, 
who  accompanied  me  to  America,  whom  I  sent  to  the 
Mission  of  Chicago  immediately  after  my  arrival  and 
who  preached  in  French  and  English  as  also  in  German, 
and  by  his  exceeding  zeal  in  the  service  of  souls  had 
won  the  love  of  all,  died  to  our  great  sorrow  on  October 
2,  [1837],  feast  of  the  Guardian  Angels."20  Father 
Schaeffer 's  last  entry  in  the  baptismal  record  of  St. 
Mary's  parish  is  dated  July  24,  1837.  Six  days  later, 
July  30,  the  name  of  Father  Bernard  O'Meara  appears 


19  Brute  a  Rosati,  July  9,  1837. 

20  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen  Stiftung,  22,  1839.     Father  Mar- 
tin Kundig,  well  known  for  his  early  missionary  labors  in  Michi- 
gan   and    Wisconsin,    occasionally    officiated    in    Chicago    at    this 
period.     "We  are  requested  to  state  that  the  Eev.  Mr.  Kundig 
will  deliver  an  address  on  Sunday  evening  at  Russell's  Saloon." 
The  Chicago  American,  April  27,  1837.     Russell's  saloon,  at  the 
southwest  corner  of  Lake  and  Clark  Streets,  was  a  meeting-hall 
and  not  a  dispensing-place  for  liquor,  as  the  conventional  mean- 
ing of  the  term  would  lead  one  to  infer.    In  it  took  place,  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  being  one  of  the  participants,  the  first  political  debate 
ever  held  in  Northern  Illinois. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.   CYR,   1834-1837      103 

for  the  first  time  in  the  same  register.21  The  following 
year,  1838,  Bishop  Brute  made  a  canonical  visitation 
of  Chicago,  of  which  he  gives  a  brief  account  in  his 
halting  English  in  a  letter  to  Mother  Rose  of  Emmits- 
burg.  The  letter  is  dated  St.  Rose's  Day,  August  30: 

Chicago,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  of  Vincennes 
on  the  Lake  Michigan,  southwest  corner;  a  city  of  seven  or  lcad°> 
eight  thousand, — largest  in  the  diocese.  Alas !  so  small  a 
wooden  church  where  I  have  just  celebrated  the  Divine  Sacri- 
fice, though  we  have  near  a  thousand  Catholics,  they  tell  me; 
— one  priest,  Mr.  O'Meara, — I  had  a  second,  Mr.  Schaeffer, 
our  Lord  recalled  him  to  heaven,  I  hope. 

Arrived  yesterday  night  from  the  line  of  the  works  of 
the  Illinois  canal.  I  will  spend  till  Sunday  here  planning  and 
devising  for  my  successors.  Also,  so  little  of  genius  at  plans ! 
— unless  our  Lord  himself  pity  such  an  immense  "avenir"  that 
I  know  not  how  to  begin  well! 

I  dream  of  Sisters  here! — but  how  so?  Col.  Beaubien 
offers  lots,  etc.  Very  well — but  Sisters? 

A  small  wooden  church,  not  sufficient  for  the  fourth  part 
on  Sunday;  and  yet  most,  (as  usual)  of  our  Catholics  are  of 
the  poorest;  and  the  few  better  off,  (as  usual  too,  in  our  West) 
so  eagerly  busy  at  the  great  business  of  this  West,  growing 
rich,  richer,  richest; — too  little  ready,  when  the  talk  is  only 
:of  lots,  interest  and  estate  in  Heaven;  or  of  placing  in  its 
Bank  on  earth,  by  hands  of  the  Church,  and  that  poor  Bishop, 
the  cashier  of  said  Bank,  in  this  part  of  the  world,  who 
could  sign  bills  of  millions  of  eternal  acquittal,  etc.,  etc. 
Well  Mother!  tell  me  how  I  will  succeed  to  spirit  our  busy 
Chicago  to  build  a  good,  large  brick  church.  Another  man, — 
yes,  some  proper  man  might  succeed,  not  this  unworthy 
Simon. 

But  enough!  I  must  go  to  meet  Mr.  O'Meara,  and  devise 
plans.  I  would  take  more  pleasure  to  speak  of  the  shanties 

21  "  I  have  sent  an  assistant  to  Mr.  Schaeffer,  Mr.  O  'Meara, 
an  Irish  priest,  who  came  to  join  us  a  short  time  ago."  Brute  a 
Rosati,  June  29,  1837. 


104  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

where  I  have  lived,  and  have  done  some  duty  these  few  days 
past;  but  now  I  am  in  the  city,  and  owe  myself  as  well  to  the 
city  as  to  the  shanties.22  " 

Death  of  Within  a  year  of  this  visit  to  Chicago,  Bishop  Brute 

died  in  Vincennes  on  June  26,  1839,  at  the  age  of  sixty. 
His  death  was  due  to  pulmonary  consumption,  which 
developed  from  a  cold  he  contracted  while  riding  on 
the  outside  of  a  stage-coach  in  Ohio  on  his  way  to  the 
Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  of  1837.  To  the  priest 
who  attended  him  he  remarked  the  morning  of  the  day 
before  he  died,  "My  dear  child,  I  have  the  whole  day 
yet  to  stay  with  you,  to-morrow  with  God."23  With 
characteristic  zeal  and  energy  he  wrote  with  his  own 
hands  six  hours  before  his  death  a  number  of  letters 
to  persons  whom  he  longed  to  reclaim  to  a  better  life. 
Rare  piety  of  soul  and  a  very  exceptional  range  of 
learning,  secular  as  well  as  sacred,  helped  to  lend  dis- 
tinction to  the  personality  of  Bishop  Brute.  Bishop 
Quarter,  his  pupil  at  the  Emmitsburg  Seminary,  de- 
clared that  he  had  never  known  a  more  tender  piety 
than  that  exhibited  by  his  beloved  professor.  As  a 
theologian  and  master  of  ecclesiastical  lore  and  as  an 
uncommonly  enlightened  and  inspiring  guide  in  things 
of  the  spirit,  his  reputation  was  high  in  church  circles 
throughout  the  land  and  many  eagerly  sought  his 
advice.  A  considerable  body  of  his  private  correspond- 
ence, for  he  was  a  prolific  letter-writer,  is  still  preserved 
in  various  ecclesiastical  archives  throughout  the  country, 


-  American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,  April,  1898.  On 
the  occasion  of  this  visit  to  Chicago  Bishop  Brute  baptized,  Sep- 
tember 2,  1838,  Gwenthlean  Harriet  Kinzie,  daughter  of  Robert 
Kinzie  and  Gwenthlean  Harriet  Whistler. 

-3  BAYLEY,  Memories  of  Bishop  Brute,  p.  85. 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.    CYR,   1834-1837      105 

giving  reason  to  hope  that  an  adequate  biography  of 
this  remarkable  churchman  will  some  day  be  given  to 
the  world.24 

For  the  Catholics  of  Chicago  it  may  be  a  subject 
of  solemn  pride  that  the  first  rude  beginnings  of  the 
church  in  their  great  metropolis  felt  for  a  while  the 
.shaping  hand  of  the  saintly  first  Bishop  of  Vincennes; 
just  as  for  the  Catholics  of  St.  Louis  it  will  be  gratify- 
ing to  recall  that  the  progress  made  by  the  church  in 
the  Northern  city  during  that  prelate's  administration 
was  due  in  large  measure  to  the  zealous  ministry  of 
Father  St.  Cyr,  "that  great  favor"  in  Bishop  Brute's 
own  words,  "conferred  by  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  on 
our  own." 

The  Rt.  Reverend  Celestine  Rene  Guy  de  la  Hailan-   dela 

,,.,  ,.  r.     i  Hailandiere, 

diere  succeeded  Bishop  Brute  as  incumbent  of  the  see  second  Bishop 
of  Vincennes.   At  the  outset  of  his  episcopate  there  de- 
volved   upon  him  the  painful  duty  of  attempting  to 
heal  a  schism  in  the  Catholic  congregation  of  Chicago 
due  to  the  independent  and  refractory  course  of  action 


84  HASSARD,  Life  of  Archbishop  Hughes,  p.  73.  See  supra,  p.  75. 
Bishop  Brute  was  deeply  interested  in  the  early  church  history  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley  and  over  the  signature,  "Vincennes,"  pub- 
lished in  the  Catholic  Telegraph  of  Cincinnati  a  series  of  letters 
in  which  in  his  own  words,  "the  ancient  labors  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  in  this  region,  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Mississippi,  were  de- 
scribed." In  an  unpublished  letter  written  to  Father  Elet,  S.  J., 
President  of  Saint  Louis  University,  he  makes  the  suggestion  that 
the  site  of  the  old  Jesuit  Mission  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  be  marked 
with  a  permanent  memorial  before  all  traces  of  it  be  lost  to  his- 
tory. Eight  letters  from  Bishop  Brute,  descriptive  of  conditions 
in  his  diocese,  appeared  in  the  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen-Stiftung 
Im  Kaiserthume  Oestereich  during  the  period  1837-1840. 


106 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 


Maurice  de 
St.  Palais, 
Pastor  at 
Chicago, 
1840-1844 


pursued  by  its  pastor,  Father  O'Meara,  the  sole  priest 
in  Chicago  after  the  death  of  Father  Schaeffer. 

In  December,  1839,  Father  Maurice  de  St.  Palais 
left  Vincennes  for  Chicago  in  company  with  Father 
Du  Pontavice,  who  had  been  named  pastor  of  Joliet, 
the  pair  travelling  in  a  spring-wagon.25  As  Father 
O'Meara  continued  to  hold  possession  of  the  old  church, 
which  he  had  caused  to  be  moved  from  its  original  site 
on  Lake  Street  to  the  north  side  of  Madison  Street 
some  yards  west  of  Michigan  Avenue,  St.  Palais  had 
to  conduct  services  in  an  upper  room  of  a  building  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  Wells  and  Randolph  Streets.26 
On  June  27,  1840  Father  O'Meara  tendered  in  writing 
to  Bishop  Hailandiere  his  resignation  as  "pastor  of  the 
congregation  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  city  of 
Chicago."27  He  continued,  however,  to  exercise  the 
ministry  independently  of  the  Bishop  and  against  his 
prohibition  until  Father  St.  Cyr,  who  went  to  Chicago 
for  the  purpose,  prevailed  upon  him  to  retire  from  the 
active  ministry.  His  last  baptism,  all  his  ministrations 


25  ALERDIXG,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  Diocese  of 
Vincennes,  171,  491. 

-6The  New  World  (Chicago),  April  14,  1900.  The  lot  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Michigan  Avenue  and  Madison  Street,  pur- 
chased by  Father  O'Meara  from  the  Government,  June  21,  1839, 
for  $262,  was  sold  by  Archbishop  Mundelein,  January  24,  1920, 
for  $500,000.  It  had  been  leased  in  1900  to  Montgomery  Ward 
&  Co.,  who  erected  on  it  the  Tower  Building,  one  of  Chicago's 
most  conspicuous  sky-scrapers.  Shortly  after  purchasing  the 
property,  Father  O'Meara  was  given  a  quit-claim  by  Col.  J.  B. 
Beaubieu,  in  whose  famous  controverted  tract  the  property  was 
included.  In  June,  1840,  Father  O'Meara  ceded  the  property  to 
the  Bishop  of  Vincennes. 

27  Chicago  Daily  American,  November  30,  1840. 


Et.  Rev.  Maurice  de  St.  Palais,  fourth  Bishop  of  Vincennes, 
1849-1877.  As  Father  de  St.  Palais,  he  was  resident  pastor  at 
Chicago,  1840-1844. 


THE 


OF  WE 


THE  PASTORATE  OF  FATHER  ST.    CYR,    1834-1837      107 

of  the  sacrament  having  been  entered  by  him  with 
scrupulous  accuracy  in  the  parish  records,  is  dated 
August  12, 1841.  Adjoining  the  old  church  was  the  parish 
rectory,  a  one-story  cottage  of  frame,  which  faced  east, 
being  number  115  Michigan  Avenue.  Here  Father  de  St. 
Palais  took  up  his  residence  and  here  lived  the  Catholic 
Bishops  of  Chicago  until  the  erection  by  Bishop  0  'Regan 
of  a  handsome  episcopal  residence  on  the  same  site. 
Finding  the  old  church,  "a  long  low  frame  building," 
utterly  inadequate,  Father  de  St.  Palais  undertook  the 
erection  of  a  new  church,  one  hundred  feet  by  fifty-five, 
on  property  acquired  by  him  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Wabash  Avenue  and  Madison  Street.  Though  in  an 
unfinished  state,  it  was  opened  for  service  on  Christmas 
Day,  1843.  Father  de  St.  Palais  was  also  the  purchaser 
of  ten  acres  of  land  for  a  cemetery  at  what  is  now  the 
intersection  of  State  Street  and  North  Avenue,  a  point 
then  beyond  the  city  limits.28  The  rapidly  growing  pop- 
ulation of  Chicago  added  ever  to  the  labors  of  his 
ministry,  in  which  he  had  the  zealous  co-operation  of 
Father  Francis  Fischer  for  the  German  portion  of  the 
flock.  They  were  the  only  priests  officiating  in  the  city 
when  Bishop  Quarter  arrived,  on  May  3,  1844,  to  take 
possession  of  his  episcopal  see. 


28  The  first  Catholic  burial  ground  in  Chicago  was  near  Chi- 
cago Avenue,  east  of  Clark  Street.  Here  the  town  authorities 
purchased  ten  acres  in  1833,  alloting  the  southern  half  to  the 
Catholics  and  the  northern  half  to  the  Protestants.  ANDREAS, 
History  of  Chicago,  2:  448. 


CHAPTER  V 


BISHOP  QUARTER 


The  Fifth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  having 
recommended  to  the  Holy  See  the  establishment  of 
several  new  dioceses,  among  them  that  of  Chicago, 
Gregory  XVI  issued  a  brief  September  30,  1843,  erecting 
the  diocese  of  Chicago  with  the  entire  state  of  Illinois 
as  territory  and  appointing  Reverend  William  J. 
Quarter,  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  New  York,  in- 
cumbent of  the  new  see.1  A  native  of  Killurine,  King's 
County,  Ireland,  where  he  was  born  January  24,  1806, 
Father  Quarter  had  come  to  America  as  a  young  man, 
made  his  ecclesiastical  studies  at  Mount  St.  Mary's, 
Emmitsburg,  Maryland,  where  he  had  the  saintly  Brute 
among  his  professors,  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Dubois 
and  was  subsequently  curate  at  historic  St.  Peter's 
church,  New  York,  and  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  church  in 
the  same  city.  Together  with  Bishop  Byrne  of  Little 
Rock  and  Bishop  McCloskey,  the  future  cardinal,  he 


1  Practically  all  available  biographical  data  regarding  Bishop 
Quarter  are  to  be  found  in  SHEA,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church 
in  the  United  States;  CLARK,  Deceased  Bishops  of  the  United 
States,  and  McGovERN,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Chi- 
cago. The  last-named  work  contains  in  reprint  the  sketch  of  the 
Bishop  written  by  his  physician  and  intimate  friend,  Dr.  McGirr, 
a  sketch  reissued  by  the  press  of  St.  Mary's  Training  School, 
Desplaines,  Illinois,  on  the  occasion  of  the  diamond  jubilee  of  the 
archdiocese  of  Chicago,  June,  1920. 

108 


Rt.  Rev.  William  J.  Quarter,  first  Bishop  of  Chicago,  1844- 
1848.  The  founder  of  Catholic  education  in  Chicago.  The  first 
Catholic  University,  Saint  Mary  of  the  Lake,  the  first  Catholic 
High-School,  Saint  Xavier's,  and  the  first  Catholic  parish-school 
of  the  city  owe  their  origin  to  him.  He  was  born  in  Ireland  in 
1806,  labored  in  the  ministry  with  unremitting  zeal  as  pastor  in 
New  York  City  and  afterwards  as  chief  pastor  in  Chicago,  where 
after  four  years  of  distinguished  service  rendered  to  the  new 
diocese  entrusted  to  his  care  he  died  at  the  early  age  of  forty- 
two. 


THE 


OF 


BISHOP  QUARTER  109 

was  consecrated  March  10,  1844,  in  the  Cathedral  of 
New  York  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Hughes. 

Accompanied  by  his  brother,  Rev.  Walter  J.  Quarter,    Bish°P 

.  Quarter 

Bishop  Quarter  arrived  in  Chicago  on  Sunday  morning,  arrives  in 
May  5,  1844.  That  same  morning  he  said  Mass  in  the  Chicago 
old  church,  "a  long,  low  frame  building  having  a  small 
steeple  and  surmounted  by  a  cross,"  and  preached  in 
the  new  St.  Mary's  at  10:30  o'clock  Mass.  The  new 
church  of  brick  "a  respectable  building,"  so  Bishop 
Quarter  describes  it,  was  destined  to  be  the  cathedral 
of  the  diocese  until  its  destruction  in  the  great  Chicago 
fire  of  1871.  It  was  still  unplastered  at  the  time  of  the 
Bishop's  arrival  and  a  temporary  altar  was  set  up 
against  the  western  wall. 

From  the  very  first  the  view  he  took  of  the  outlook 
for  Catholicism  both  in  Chicago  and  the  diocese  gener- 
ally was  frankly  optimistic. 

"I  am  happy  to  inform  you,"  he  writes  to  Bishop  Purcell 
of  Cincinnati  in  the  September  following  his  arrival  in  the 
West,  "that  a  spirit  of  great  liberality  exists  towards  Catholics 
in  all  parts  of  this  state  and  in  the  city  a  word  exasperating 
or  painful  to  the  feelings  of  Catholics  I  have  never  heard 
uttered.  Indeed,  the  citizens  appear  all  like  the  members  of 
one  united  and  well  organized  family  where  each  one  consults 
for  the  benefit  and  advantage  of  all. 

I  have  already  visited  a  large  portion  of  the  diocese  and 
the  prospects  everywhere  are,  I  think,  bright  for  Catholicity. 
In  almost  every  part  of  the  state  there  are  Catholics  settled 
and  although  they  are  poor,  yet  they  are  willing  to  contribute 
of  their  scanty  means  towards  the  support  of  their  church  and 
clergyman.  The  greatest  privation  they  have  in  many  places 
to  endure  is  that  of  clergymen  to  administer  to  their  spiritual 
wants.  There  are  at  present  22  or  [2]  3  priests  engaged  in  the 


110  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

missions,  but  bow  small  is  that  number  compared  with  the 
population  of  50  or  60,000  that  they  have  to  attend.  In  one 
or  two  years  100  or  more  clergymen  can  be  actively  engaged 
in  those  missions.2  " 

A  period  of  scarcely  four  years  was  to  round  out  the 
career  of  Bishop  Quarter  as  first  incumbent  of  the 
episcopal  see  of  Chicago;  but  within  that  narrow  span 
he  was  to  achieve  a  brilliant  record  of  apostolic  zeal 
and  enterprise  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  diocese.  Cath- 
olicity all  through  Illinois,  but  especially  in  Chicago, 
awakened  to  a  new  life  at  the  touch  of  his  swift  and 
splendid  energy.  A  great  quantity  of  debts  confronted 
him  on  his  arrival  in  the  city;  three  thousand  dollars 
on  the  unfinished  cathedral,  five  hundred  on  the  adjoin- 
ing property  purchased  by  Father  de  St.  Palais  and 
three  hundred  on  the  graveyard.  Here  were  almost 
four  thousand  dollars  of  debt,  an  obligation  insig- 
nificant enough  according  to  present-day  standards, 
but  very  disconcerting  in  those  days  of  almost  uni- 
versal poverty  among  the  Catholic  immigrants,  espe- 
cially as  much  of  that  debt  was  bearing  interest  as 
high  as  12  and  15  per  cent.  To  liquidate  these 
debts  Bishop  Quarter  bent  every  effort  from  his  first 
arrival  in  the  diocese  and  before  his  untimely  decease 
many  if  not  all  of  the  obligations  had  been  lifted.  "We 
are  indeed  very  poor  here  and  I  shall  have  to  struggle 
hard  for  some  time,"  he  informed  Father  Carrell, 
President  of  St.  Louis  University,  a  few  months  after 
his  arrival  in  Chicago.3 


-  Quarter  to  Purcell,  September  2,  1844,  Catholic  Archives  of 
America,  Notre  Dame  University. 

'Quarter  to  Carrell,  July  30,  1844,  St.  Louis  University 
Archives. 


Saint  Mary's  Cathedral,  erected  by  Father  Maurice  de  St.  Palais  on 
ground  purchased  by  him  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Madison  Street  and 
Wabash  Avenue.  One  hundred  by  fifty-five  feet,  the  length  being  along 
Madison  Street.  Opened  for  divine  services  Christmas  Day,  1843,  and 
dedicated  by  Bishop  Quarter  the  first  Monday  of  October,  1845. 


THE 


OF  THE 


BISHOP  QUARTER  111 

More  pressing  even  than  the  question  of  debts  was 
he  question  of  an  adequate  number  of  priests  for  the 
eeds  of  the  diocese.  Fathers  de  St.  Palais  and  Fischer, 
lie  only  Catholic  clergymen  in  Chicago  when  the  Bishop 
ook  possession  of  his  see  in  1844,  were  recalled  to  their 
iocese  of  Vincennes  the  next  month  and  left  Chicago, 
rhere  they  had  done  excellent  work,  the  following 
Lugust.  But,  within  a  few  months  of  his  arrival  in 
be  city  he  had  ordained  five  priests,  Fathers  McMahan, 
IcGorisk,  Kinsella,  Brady  and  Ingoldsby  and  was  soon 
eceiving  clerical  reinforcements  from  other  dioceses, 
itep  by  step  Bishop  Quarter  proceeded  to  organize  his 
iocese  and  to  insure  to  his  clergy  the  helps  calculated 
o  maintain  their  ministry  at  a  high  standard  of  effi- 
iency  and  zeal.  In  April,  1847,  he  convened  a  diocesan 
ynod  in  the  new  Seminary  building  which  was  pre- 
eded  by  a  "spiritual  retreat"  of  three  days  conducted 
y  Father  Francis  De  Maria,  S.  J.,  professor  of  theology 
a  St.  Louis  University.  Thirty-two  priests  were  in 
ttendance,  while  nine  were  excused  on  account  of  ill- 
ealth  or  the  difficulty  of  travelling  from  remote  corners 
f  the  diocese.  Statutes  for  the  diocese  were  drawn  up 
y  the  synod  and  duly  promulgated.  On  November  12 
f  the  same  year  the  first  theological  conference  of  the 
iocese  was  held  in  the  new  Seminary  chapel  of  the 
loly  Name  of  Jesus,  while  a  similar  conference  was 
.eld  on  the  same  day  at  Alton  for  the  priests  of  the 
outhern  section  of  the  diocese.4 


4  Father  De  Maria,  who  was  an  excellent  classical  scholar, 
omposed  a  Latin  inscription  recording  the  praise  of  Bishop  Quar- 
3r  for  having  convened  his  first  diocesan  synod.  The  inscription 
3  in  McGovern,  p.  82.  The  first  to  receive  holy  orders  in  Chi- 


112  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Beginning  Catholic  education  in  Chicago  owes  its  beginnings 

education  to  Bishop  Quarter.  On  June  3,  1844,  scarcely  a  month 
in  Chicago  after  coming  to  the  "West,  he  opened  in  Father  St.  Cyr's 
old  frame  church,  which  had  been  removed  from  its 
original  site  to  the  north  side  of  Madison  Street  between 
Wabash  and  Michigan  Avenue,  a  Catholic  school  for 
boys,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  Chicago,  which  he  dignified 
with  the  name  of  the  "College  of  St.  Mary."5  "June  3d. 
On  this  day  the  new  Catholic  College  of  St.  Mary's, 
Chicago,"  the  Bishop  thus  records  the  event  in  his 
Diary,  "wras  opened  for  the  reception  of  students.  The 
professors  are  Eev.  Messrs.  McGorisk  and  Kinsella. 
Rev.  Mr.  McMahan  will  assist  when  necessary.  The 
College  opened  with  five  students,  Timothy  Sullivan 
making  the  sixth."  "Shortly  after  my  arrival,"  wrote 
Bishop  Quarter  the  following  September  to  Bishop 
Purcell  of  Cincinnati,  "I  commenced  a  small  college  in 
a  very  humble  way — hoping  that  at  some  future  day 
we  may  have  means  to  carry  it  on  more  extensively — 
we  have  given  it  the  euphonious  name  of  St.  Mary's 
of  the  Lake."6 


cago   were   Patrick   McMahan    and   Bernard   McGorisk,    ordained 
priests  by  Bishop  Quarter,  May  24,  1844. 

5  See  supra,  p.  61.    Though  Father  St.  Cyr  projected  a  school 
for   the   Catholic   children   of   Chicago,   no   evidence   that   it   was 
actually  opened  is  at  hand. 

6  Quarter   to   Purcell,   September   2,    1844,   Catholic   Archives 
of  America,  Notre  Dame  University. 

The  text  of  Bishop  Quarter's  Diary,  with  continuation  by 
Father  Walter  Quarter  and  Bishop  Van  de  Velde,  the  whole  con- 
stituting an  invaluable  contemporaneous  record  of  Catholic  his- 
tory in  the  diocese  of  Chicago  during  the  period  1844-1853,  is 
reproduced  in  extenso  in  McGovERN's,  The  Catholic  Church  in 
Chicago. 


3.  a 


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THE 


OF  TiSE 


BISHOP  QUARTER  113 

This  humble  beginning,  perforce  a  makeshift,  was 
presently  to  develop  into  an  institution  commensurate 
with  the  expansion  which  his  far-eyed  vision  saw  Cath- 
olicism was  to  undergo  in  the  Middle  Western  States. 
As  a  preliminary  to  his  educational  scheme,  he  secured 
from  the  Illinois  Legislature  an  act  dated  December  19, 
1844,  incorporating  "The  University  of  St.  Mary  of 
the  Lake."  One  cannot  but  be  surprised  at  this  remove 
of  time  at  the  boldness  of  the  Bishop's  educational 
venture  undertaken  within  six  months  of  his  arrival  in 
Chicago  and  amid  conditions  that  seemed  utterly  out 
of  keeping  with  such  an  ambitious  scale  of  preparation. 
But  somehow  this  youthful,  far-eyed  prelate  looked 
steadily  to  the  future  and  the  future  did  not  belie  his 
expectations. 

In  February,  1845,  another  bill  of  far-reaching  im- 
portance for  the  interests  of  Catholicity  in  Chicago, 
constituting  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  Chicago  and  his 
successors  a  ' '  corporation  sole ' '  to  hold  property  in  trust 
for  religious  purposes,  was  enacted  into  law  by  the 
Legislature  of  Illinois. 

Of  these  two  measures  Bishop  Quarter  wrote  at  the 
beginning  of  1845  to  Bishop  Blanc  of  New  Orleans : 

"So  far  I  have  no  cause  of  complaint,  thank  Providence. 
I  have  just  got  a  bill  through  the  Legislature  chartering  for 
us  a  University,  'The  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake.' 
The  bill  passed  without  opposition.  I  have  now  another  bill 
before  them,  which,  if  it  passes,  will  be  highly  beneficial  to 
Religion,  I  trust.  It  is  a  bill  authorizing  myself  and  my 
successors  to  hold  all  properties  ecclesiastical  for  which  they 
have  been  granted,  purchased,  etc.  This  bill  if  it  passes,  will 
obviate  the  necessity  of  anything  in  the  form  of  trusteeism  in 


114  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

this  diocese  forever.   There  is  not  a  trustee  in  the  diocese  nor 
shall  there  be  as  long  as  I  live.7  " 

In  the  spring  of  1845  Bishop  Quarter  undertook  a 
trip  to  the  East  to  collect  money  for  the  new  College 
and  Seminary  which  he  now  planned  to  build  on  prop- 
erty acquired  by  him  on  the  North  Side.  The  property, 
which  comprised  an  entire  block  bounded  by  Chicago 
Avenue,  Cass,  Superior  and  Wolcott  (now  State) 
Streets,  had  belonged  to  Chicago's  first  Mayor,  William 
B.  Ogden,  who  with  public-spirited  generosity  donated 
one-half  the  block  to  Bishop  Quarter.715  The  appeals 
made  by  the  latter  in  the  various  cities  of  the  diocese  of 
New  York  netted  a  little  over  three  thousand  dollars. 
On  October  17,  1845,  work  was  begun  on  the  new  in- 
stitution, as  chronicled  in  the  Bishop's  Diary.  "  [17th 
Oct.  1845].  On  this  day  the  workmen  began  to  dig  the 
foundation  of  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake. 
The  name  of  the  man  who  has  contracted  to  build  it  is 
Jas.  O'Donnell;  the  name  of  the  architect  is  Daniel 
Sullivan.  In  digging  the  foundation  they  found  shells, 
an  evidence  it  would  seem  that  this  was  caused  by 
the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan,  which  have  since  receded. ' ' 
By  November  22  the  building,  which  was  of  frame,  was 
under  roof,  and  on  July  4,  1846,  the  University  opened 
its  new  quarters  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  It  is 
pleasant  to  record  that  a  note  of  emphatic  American- 
ism was  struck  in  the  exercises  of  the  occasion.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  read  by  one  of  the 
students,  there  was  an  apostrophe  to  America  and  a 


7  Quarter  to  Blanc,  January  17,  1845,  Catholic  Archives  of 
America,  Notre  Dame  University. 

7b  So,  according  to  the  writer  in  the  Illinois  Catholic  His- 
torical Review,  2:  137. 


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II 


BISHOP  QUARTER  115 

Latin  ode  to  Liberty  and  the  exercises  concluded  with 
the  "Star  Spangled  Banner".  The  degree  of  B.  A.  was 
conferred  on  this  occasion  on  Lawrence  Hoey,  J.  A. 
Keane  and  Dr.  J.  Walsh  of  New  York.8  This  red-letter 
day  in  the  educational  history  of  Chicago  was  marked 
by  a  procession  of  the  Catholic  clergy  and  laity  to  the 
college  grounds. 

"Fancy  to  yourself  an  entire  open  black  or  square,  in 
the  northeastern  part  of  the  city,  a  short  distance  from  the 
Lake  Shore,  enclosed  with  a  substantial,  high,  close  plank 
fence,  with  a  beautiful,  architectural  three-story  wooden  edifice, 
with  brick  basement  and  colonade  front,  situated  on  the  north 
half  of  the  block,  and  fronting  the  south  and  surrounded  on 
all  sides  with  native  forest  trees  of  stately  growth;  oaks, 
linden,  cottonwood,  elm,  etc.,  shading  a  grassy  lawn,  and  you 
have  in  your  mind's  eye  the  'University  of  St.  Mary's  of  the 
Lake/  which  is  just  now  quite  the  Lion  of  the  day  with  us. 

Fancy  to  yourself  again,  on  a  cool  summer  morning,  and 
that  the  anniversary  of  the  glorious  birthday  of  Liberty,  an 
immense  concourse  of  people,  old  and  young,  great  and  small, 
in  rapid  movement  threading  the  different  streets  of  our  city. 
See  them  finally  settle  around  the  Cathedral  and  the  public 
square  on  the  Lake  Shore,  see  the  proud  Montgomery  Guards 
in  beautiful  uniform,  a  company  of  adopted  citizens,  headed 
by  a  spirit-stirring  band  of  music;  see  the  Sunday  School 
children  by  thousands,  as  white  and  pure  as  angels;  see  the 
Sons  of  Temperance  with  their  elegant  banners,  and  see  the 
streets  filled  with  lookers  on,  as  this  well-ordered  procession 
proceeded  to  the  University,  accompanied  by  the  Bishop  and 
Clergy,  Professors  and  Pupils  of  the  College  and  you  have 
the  whole  movement  before  you.9  " 


8  Catholic  Magazine,  5 :  460. 

9  M.   L.   Knapp    in  the   St.   Louis  News   Letter,   August    1, 
1846.      The    University    building    stood,    facing    south,    on    the 
south   [?]   half  of  the  University  block   (Chicago  Avenue,  Cass, 
Superior,  State  Streets)  and  well  towards  the  middle  of  the  block. 
Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,  2:  138. 


116  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Two  days  later,  July  6,  ordinations  were  held  for  the 
first  time  in  the  new  University  Chapel  of  the  Holy 
Name  of  Jesus  and  on  the  14th  of  the  same  month  the 
students  of  the  Seminary  Department  moved  from  their 
old  quarters  into  the  new  University  building.10 


10  The  Metropolitan  CatJiolic  Almanac  and  Laity's  Directory 
for  1845  lists  among  the  institutions  of  the  "Diocess"  of  Chicago, 
St.  Mary's  Ecclesiastical  Seminary  and  St.  Mary's  College  of  the 
Lake,  which  latter,  in  the  same  publication  for  1846,  appears  as 
the  University  of  St.  Mary's  of  the  Lake.  (The  correct  title  is 
the  one  appearing  in  the  charter — University  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Lake.)  "This  Institution  is  situated  in  the  city  of  Chicago  and 
on  the  borders  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  location  is  pleasant, 
healthy  and  sufficiently  remote  from  the  business  part  of  the  city 
to  make  it  favorable  to  the  pursuits  of  study.  The  ample  grounds 
and  extensive  meadows  in  the  vicinity  will  afford  the  students  an 
opportunity  of  enjoying  healthful  exercise  and  abundant  recrea- 
tion in  the  free  and  pure  air."  Father  Badin,  who  was  in  Chi- 
cago in  the  summer  of  1846,  has  this  to  say  of  the  University: 
' '  Bishop  Quarter  has  fourteen  theologians  in  his  Seminary.  The 
College  is  beautiful,  solidly  built  and  without  flaw  and  free  from 
debt."  Badin  to  -  — ,  June  14,  1846.  For  an  institution 

catering  to  the  needs  of  what  might  almost  be  called  a  frontier 
settlement,  the  range  of  subjects  which  it  offered  was  surprisingly 
complete  and  did  not  differ  essentially  from  the  curriculum  ob- 
taining in  the  best  present-day  institutions  of  collegiate  grade. 
' '  The  course  of  instruction  will  embrace  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin, 
French  and  English  Languages,  Poetry,  Rhetoric,  History,  Myth- 
ology, Geography,  Book-keeping,  Arithmetic,  Algebra,  Mathe- 
matics, Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy,  Natural  Philosophy 
and  Chemistry.  The  German,  Spanish  and  Italian  Languages, 
together  with  Music  and  Drawing,  will  also  be  taught  if  required; 
but  for  these  there  will  be  extra  charges."  Metropolitan  Catholic 
Almanac,  etc.,  1845,  p.  113.  An  article  from  the  pen  of  Msgr. 
Daniel  J.  Eiordan  in  the  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,  2: 
135-160,  is  the  best  account  available  of  Chicago's  first  Catholic 
University.  Of  the  early  students  of  the  University  some  were 


BISHOP  QUARTER  117 

Provision  had  thus  been  made  for  the  Catholic  edu-  sisters 
cation  of  the  male  youth  of  Chicago  and  for  the  training  ercy 
of  the  clergy.  Bishop  Quarter  now  took  in  hand  the  task 
of  securing  educational  advantages  for  the  Catholic  girls 
of  the  city.  At  his  invitation  six  Sisters  of  Mercy  from 
the  Pittsburg  community  arrived  in  Chicago  on  Septem- 
ber 23,  1846,  to  establish  a  convent  and  open  schools. 
The  names  of  these  first  nuns  to  arrive  in  Chicago  and 
inaugurate  there  the  great  work  of  the  Catholic  educa- 
tion of  women,  which  has  assumed  such  splendid  propor- 
tions in  our  own  day,  are  deserving  of  lasting  record. 
They  were  Sister  Mary  Agatha  0  'Brien,  Superioress  of 
the  new  foundation  and  Sisters  Mary  Vincent  McGirr, 
Mary  Gertrude  McGuire,  Mary  Eliza  Corbett  and  Mary 
Eva  Smith.  With  them  came  also,  to  supervise  the 
beginnings  of  the  new  establishment,  Sister  Mary 
Frances  "Ward,  Superioress  of  the  community  of  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy  in  Pittsburg.11 

Until  better  quarters  could  be  provided  for  them,  the 
Bishop  gave  over  to  the  Sisters  his  residence  on 
Michigan  Avenue,  a  low,  one-story  frame  house  of  very 
humble  appearance,  but  considerably  more  pretentious 
than  the  little  cottage  in  which  he  thereupon  began  to 


later  to  fill  posts  of  distinction  in  the  Church,  as  Bishops  McMul- 
len  and  Baltes  and  Archbishops  Biordan  and  Ireland,  of  whom 
the  two  latter,  however,  attended  the  institution  for  a  brief  period 
only.  It  may  be  noted  here  that  Bishop  Quarter  had  made  the 
Virgin  Mother  patroness  not  only  of  his  University  but  of  the 
entire  diocese.  "I  have  concluded  to  adopt  the  Ordo  published 
in  New  Orleans  in  this  diocese,  which  is  under  the  special  protec- 
tion of  the  Immaculate  Mother  of  God."  Quarter  to  Blanc,  No- 
vember 18,  1844,  Catholic  Archives  of  America,  Notre  Dame  Uni- 
versity. 

11  Bishop  Quarter 's  Diary. 


118  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  EN  CHICAGO 

lodge.  The  Sisters  at  once  organized  St.  Xavier's 
Academy  as  an  institution  for  young  ladies,  conducting 
classes  in  the  old  church  vacated  a  few  months  pre- 
viously by  the  students  of  the  University  on  the  comple- 
tion of  their  new  building  on  the  North  Side. 

A  contemporary  press-notice  bespoke  a  hearty  wel- 
come on  the  part  of  the  city  to  the  first  Catholic  nuns 
to  establish  themselves  in  Chicago. 

"A  school  for  young  ladies  is  this  day  opened  by  these 
Sisters  of  Mercy  (than  whom  none  are  more  competent  to 
teach)  in  the  old  chapel  in  the  rear  of  their  residence  on 
the  Lake  Shore.  They  also  visit  the  sick  and  distressed  and 
dispense  mercies  to  the  wretched  and  those  whom  poverty  has 
chained  to  her  car.  Ere  long,  too,  they  contemplate  forming 
an  Orphan  Asylum.  What  citizen  is  there  who  will  not  hail 
the  coming  of  these  Sisters  of  Mercy  as  among  the  choicest 
of  blessings  for  our  city.12  " 

In  September,  1847,  the  Sisters  moved  into  the  new 
brick  building  built  for  them  by  Bishop  Quarter  on 
AVabash  Avenue  on  church  property  contiguous  to  the 
Cathedral  on  the  south.  The  cost  of  the  structure  was 
$4,000,  of  which  some  $3,000  were  a  gift  from  the  Asso- 
ciation of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  a  Catholic 
international  agency  with  headquarters  at  Lyons  in 
France.13  A  contemporary  description  of  the  new 


^Chicago  Daily  Democrat,  October  24,  1846.  ANDREAS,  2: 
406,  states  that  the  Academy  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  was  "  organ- 
ized" September  24,  1846.  NORRIS  AND  GARDINER'S  Chicago  Di- 
rectory, 1847-48,  give  as  location  of  "St.  Francis  Xavier  Female 
Seminary,"  the  corner  of  Michigan  Avenue  and  Madison  Street. 

13  ANDREAS,  History  of  Chicago,  2 :  406.  ' '  A  substantial  brick 
building,  40  feet  square,  3  stories  high,  has  been  erected  in  Wa- 
bash  Avenue,  near  Madison  Street,  for  the  purpose  of  a  nunnery, 
owned  by  the  Catholic  Church,  cost  $4,500;  Peter  Page  and  Alex. 


BISHOP  QUARTER  119 

Academy  notes  that  "it  is  an  elegant  building  and 
situated  in  a  most  beautiful  spot,  commanding  an 
agreeable  view  of  Lake  Michigan  and  but  a  square  from 
its  banks,  surrounded  with  everything  that  could  render 
it  desirable  as  a  suitable  place  for  the  instruction  and 
training  of  youth  and  health  combined.  .  .  .  Viewed 
at  a  distance  from  the  lake,  the  Academy,  adjoining  the 
Cathedral  whose  radiant  spire,  heavenward  pointing, 
may  be  seen  afar  off  amid  the  beauteous  trees  that 
surround  it  and  which  offer  an  agreeable  shade,  presents 
an  admirable  and  highly  picturesque  appearance."14 

St.  Xavier's  Academy  was  incorporated  by  act  of 
the  Illinois  Legislature  in  1847. 

Though  the  Catholics  of  Chicago  were  reckoned  by  St.  Patrick's 
Bishop  Quarter  in  1846  to  number  only  1.300,  one  tenth 
the  population  of  the  city,  he  organized,  in  the  course 
of  that  year  three  additional  parishes,  St.  Patrick's,  St. 
Joseph's  and  St.  Peter's.  St.  Patrick's  church,  built  at 
the  earnest  desire  of  the  Bishop's  brother.  Father 
Walter  J.  Quarter,  who  undertook  to  collect  and  pay 
for  it  and  who  was  appointed  its  first  pastor,  stood  at 
the  southwest  corner  of  Desplaines  and  Kandolph 
Streets,  on  the  west  side  of  the  River,  where  Irish  im- 
migrants had  begun  to  settle  in  large  numbers.  The 
architect  and  builder  was  Augustine  Deodat  Taylor,  who 
had  built  the  first  St.  Mary's,  and  the  cost  was  only 
$750.  March  10,  1846,  "the  frame  of  the  building  was 
raised,"  and  on  Easter  Sunday,  April  12,  the  church 
was  opened  for  divine  service.  The  following  August 


Loyd,  builders,  van  Osdel,  architect."     KORRIS  AND  GARDINER'S 
Chicago  Directory,  1847-1848. 

"McGovERN,  op.  tit.,  p.  151. 


120  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Father  P.  J.  McLaughlin  succeeded  Father  Quarter  as 
pastor.15 

German  Meanwhile,    steps   had  been   taken   to   provide   the 

German  Catholics  of  the  city  with  their  own  houses  of 
divine  worship.  The  earliest  attempt  to  bring  them 
religious  instruction  in  their  own  tongue,  for  the  great 
bulk  of  them,  lately  arrived  from  Europe,  were  utterly 
without  knowledge  of  the  vernacular,  was  apparently 
made  by  Father  Bernard  Schaeffer,  a  Strassburger,  and 
the  first  German-speaking  priest  to  reside  for  any  length 
of  time  in  the  city  (1836-1837) .  Father  Francis  Fischer 
ministered  to  them  during  the  period  1842  [?] -August 
24,  1844,  on  which  last  date  he  withdrew  from  Chi- 
cago to  return  at  the  summons  of  his  Bishop  to  his 
own  diocese  of  Vincennes.16  On  the  same  day  that 
Father  Fischer  left  Chicago  Father  Gaspar  Henry 
Ostlangenburg  arrived  there  from  Galena  to  succeed  the 
former  as  pastor  of  the  German  Catholics  of  the  city. 
September  25  of  the  following  year,  1845,  Father  John 
Jung  reached  Chicago  from  Strassburg  in  Alsace  and 
was  immediately  given  charge  of  the  German-speaking 
Catholics.  During  all  this  time  that  part  of  the  Catholic 
body  was  without  a  church  of  its  own,  services  with 
German  sermon  being  held  on  their  behalf  at  certain 
hours  on  Sundays  at  the  old  and  later  at  the  new  St. 
Mary's. 

In  his  efforts  to  build  one  or  more  churches  for  the 
Catholic  immigrants  from  Germany  settled  in  Chicago, 
Bishop  Quarter  turned  for  aid  to  the  Leopoldine 


"ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  p.  294;  Bishop  Quarter's  Diary. 

16  Father  Martin  Kundig,  of  the  Diocese  of  Detroit,  held  serv- 
ices for  the  German  Catholics  in  the  spring  of  1837  in  the  so- 
called  Saloon,  a  large  hall  for  public  gatherings.  Of.  supra,  p.  102. 


THE  IISMRY 
OF  THE 


BISHOP  QUARTER  121 

Association  of  Vienna,  established  by  Father  Reze, 
future  Bishop  of  Detroit,  in  1828  for  the  purpose  of 
financing  the  destitute  German  Catholic  churches  and 
parishes  of  the  United  States.  To  the  Archbishop  of 
Vienna,  as  President  of  the  Leopoldine  Association,  he 
wrote  October  7,  1844: 

"The  newly  created  diocese  embraces  the  entire  State  of 
Illinois.  About  fifty  thousand  Catholics  live  within  this 
territory,  of  which  the  great  majority  are  Germans  and 
Irish.  Up  to  date  but  few  Americans  profess  the  Catholic 
faith;  we  trust,  however,  that  its  holy  light,  through  the 
efforts  of  the  missionaries,  will,  ere  long,  enlighten  many  and 
guide  them  to  the  true  fold  of  Christ.  A  great  number, 
especially  in  recent  times,  have  already  returned  to  the  all- 
saving  church.  Here,  in  Chicago,  my  so-called  episcopal  see, 
we  have  but  one  Catholic  church,  and  even  this  one  church 
is  not  yet  completed.  Thus  far  only  the  main  walls  are 
under  roof  and  with  much  effort  the  construction  of  the 
sanctuary  has  been  sufficiently  advanced  to  enable  us  to  officiate 
therein.  To  complete  the  nave  of  the  church  we  are  dependent 
on  the  subscription  monies,  which  are  being  contributed  very 
sparsely  by  an  already  otherwise  poor  and  needy  congrega- 
tion. We  were  compelled  to  mortgage  church  property  to 
prevent  the  sale  of  the  church  building  on  account  of  the 
debts  incurred.  I  hope  to  God,  however,  that  brighter  times 
are  at  our  doors.  Day  by  day  the  number  of  Catholics  is 
growing,  of  whom  the  majority  are  immigrants,  who  purchase 
a  piece  of  land  or  some  field  to  cultivate  and  thus  by  diligence 
and  untiring  labor  to  earn  a  livelihood. 

Whereas  many  German  Catholics  have  already  settled 
here  in  Chicago,  I  indeed  deplore  the  fact  that  they  as  yet 
have  no  church  of  their  own;  thus  far  they  have  the  only 
church  here  in  common  with  the  Irish  and  the  English.  Con- 
sequently the  divine  services  are  divided  between  them.  At 
8 :30  o'clock  the  former  and  at  10 :30  o'clock  the  latter  come 
to  attend  Holy  Mass  and  to  hear  a  sermon.  Those  among  the 
Germans  who  understand  English  also  frequent  the  last 
service.17 " 


17  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,  I:  227. 


122  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

For  a  remittance  of  almost  a  thousand  dollars  from 
the  Leopoldine  Association  to  the  needy  diocese  of 
Chicago,  Bishop  Quarter  conveyed  his  thanks  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  Archbishop  of  Vienna  under  date  of 
December  20,  1845 : 

"How  can  I  adequately  thank  you  for  the  great  generosity 
and  tender  love  you  entertain  for  the  poor  diocese  of  Chicago. 
Your  welcome  epistle,  dated  June  20,  1845,  arrived  here  about 
the  end  of  August;  I  was  not  at  home  at  the  time,  but  it  was 
delivered  to  me  immediately  upon  my  return 

During  the  past  two  years  my  band  of  missionaries  has 
been  increased  by  sixteen,  which  is  indeed  a  source  of  much 
consolation  to  me.  A  new  clerical  Seminary  has  also  been 
erected,  at  which  one  professor  especially  teaches  the  German 
language  in  order  that  the  students  on  entering  the  holy 
priesthood  may  be  enabled  to  preach  and  hear  confessions  in 
this  language.  The  new  Cathedral  is  likewise  completed  and 
was  dedicated  on  the  first  Sunday  of  October,  1845.  German 
priests  are  ministering  to  the  German  Catholics  in  their  own 
language,  both  here  in  Chicago  and  vicinity,  as  well  as  in 
other  parishes  in  this  diocese.  But  as  yet  the  Germans  have 
no  church  of  their  own,  which  is  indeed  a  great  drawback. 
The  faithful  of  every  nationality  gather  in  one  and  the  same 
church;  this  does  not  permit  of  special  religious  instructions 
for  German  children  and  people  in  their  own  language,  and 
consequently  no  German  priest  can  exercise  a  direct  influence 
over  them,  which  would  be  possible  if  they  had  their  own 
church,  in  which  the  sermons  and  instructions  could  be  con- 
ducted in  the  German  language. 

I  therefore  earnestly  beg  of  you  to  provide  me  with 
means  to  ameliorate  these  conditions  and  to  build  a  church 
for  the  German  Catholics  of  this  city.  I  beseech  God  to  touch 
the  hearts  of  some  benefactors  for  this  purpose.18  " 

In  the  following  January  Bishop  Quarter  again 
appealed  to  the  Archbishop  of  Vienna  for  aid  to  enable 


'Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Heview,  I:  231. 


BISHOP  QUARTER  123 

him  to  build  a  church  and  school  for  the  German 
Catholics  of  Chicago.  He  had  in  view  an  eligible  piece 
of  property  on  which  to  build  them,  but  the  price  asked 
for  it,  about  $3,500,  was  beyond  his  means.  Whatever 
surplus  money  he  found  at  his  disposal  went  to  pay  off 
the  debt  on  his  Cathedral,  amounting  to  some  $4,820, 
so  that  he  could  be  in  a  position  to  say  that  his  cathedral 
at  least  was  free  from  incumbrance.19 

In  the  spring  of  1846  Bishop  Quarter  was  at  last 
enabled  to  realize  his  plans  in  favor  of  the  German 
Catholics  of  Chicago.  We  read  in  his  Diary:  "March 
28th.  Rev.  Mr.  Jung  signed  a  contract  today  with  A. 
D.  Taylor  to  build  two  German  Catholic  churches  in 
Chicago.  Present :  the  Bishop,  Messrs.  Diversey,  Shaller, 
Busche  and  Heptinger,  both  to  be  built  for  $1,000."  St. 
Peter's,  a  frame  structure,  40x60  feet,  on  the  north  side 
of  Washington  Street  between  Fifth  Avenue  (Wells 
Street)  and  Franklin  Street,  was  dedicated  by  Bishop 
Quarter  on  August  2,  1846,  being  the  first  German 
Catholic  church  to  be  opened  in  Chicago.  On  August 
15  following,  the  Bishop  dedicated  St.  Joseph's  church 
of  frame,  36x65  feet,  erected  on  the  North  Side  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  Chicago  Avenue  and  Cass  Street. 
Father  Jung  was  for  a  period  pastor  of  both  parishes, 


19  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Eeview,  1 :  232.  The  sixth  and 
last  letter  of  Bishop  Quarter  to  the  Leopoldine  Association  in 
Vienna  is  published  in  translation  in  the  January,  1919,  issue  of 
the  Eeview  named.  Therein  he  records  gratefully  the  receipt  from 
the  Association  of  $1,300,  which  sum  was  applied  to  various  needs 
of  the  diocese,  e.  g.  "  towards  the  erection  of  the  Seminary,  which 
costs  ten  thousand  dollars;  towards  the  support  of  the  Semina- 
rians which  amounts  to  two  thousand  dollars;  to  erect  a  church 
for  the  Germans  of  the  city  which  will  cost  fifty-five  hundred 
dollars. '  * 


124  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

singing  High  Mass  on  alternate  Sundays  at  either 
church,  until  he  was  relieved  at  St.  Joseph's  in  October, 
1847,  by  Father  Schaeffer  and  at  St.  Peter's  by  Father 
Liermann.20 

In  view  of  the  facts  assembled  in  the  preceding  para- 
graphs the  year  1846  must  stand  out  as  a  notable  one  in 
the  parochial  organization  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
Chicago.  This  year  saw  the  original  parish  of  St. 
Mary's  thirteen  years  after  its  creation  by  Father  St. 
Cyr,  reenforced  by  three  additional  parishes,  St. 
Patrick's  for  the  Irish  Catholics  of  the  West  Side  and 
St.  Peter's  and  St.  Joseph's  for  the  German  Catholics 
of  the  South  and  North  Sides  respectively.  Moreover,  in 
1846  were  laid  the  foundations  of  the  parish  of  the  Holy 
Name  on  the  North  Side,  the  English-speaking  Catholics 
resident  in  that  division  of  the  city  being  assigned  in 
that  year  to  the  spiritual  care  of  the  Fathers  attached  to 
the  University  of  St.  Mary's  of  the  Lake,  who  began  to 
hold  services  for  them  in  the  University  chapel  of  the 
Holy  Name  of  Jesus. 

Not  only  in  Chicago  but  throughout  his  entire  diocese 
Bishop  Quarter  bent  every  effort  to  build  churches  where 
they  were  needed  and  thereby  bring  the  consolations  of 
religion  within  convenient  reach  of  the  inpouring  Irish 
and  German  immigrants,  who  constituted  the  bulk  of  the 
Catholic  population  of  Illinois.21  He  built  in  all  thirty 


-°  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  295;  Catholic  Almanac,  1848;  Bishop 
Quarter's  Diary. 

21  Bishop  Quarter  calculated  in  1846  that  his  diocese  was  one- 
third  German  and  two-thirds  ' '  Irish,  French  and  Americans. ' ' 
Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Eeview,  October,  1918,  p.  233.  A  later 
estimate  made  by  the  Bishop  in  the  same  year  gave  the  Germans 


BISHOP  QUARTER  125 

churches,  ten  of  which  were  of  either  brick  or  stone. 
Moreover,  he  ordained  at  Chicago  during  his  brief 
episcopacy  twenty-nine  priests,  whereas,  when  he  en- 
tered the  diocese,  there  were  only  six  and  not  a  single 
candidate  for  Holy  Orders.  At  his  death  he  left 
behind  him  fifty-three  priests  and  twenty  ecclesiastical 
students.22  What  had  been  accomplished  during  his 
incumbency  as  Bishop  he  reviewed  in  a  spirit  of  devout 
thanksgiving  in  the  last  pastoral  letter  which  he  issued 
to  his  flock. 

"The  great  increase  in  the  number  of  the  Catholic  popu- 
lation of  this  city  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  facts : 
in  the  year  1844,  when  we  took  possession  of  this  See  there 
was  only  one  Catholic  church  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  There 
are  now  four,  together  with  the  chapel  of  'The  Holy  Name 
of  Jesus/  attached  to  'The  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Lake.'  This  one  Catholic  church,  then  under  roof,  but  not 
finished,  accommodated  all  the  Catholics  on  Sunday.  The 
German  Catholics,  the  Irish  and  American  Catholics  assembled 
within  its  walls  to  assist  at  the  divine  mysteries  and  were  not 
pressed  for  room.  The  German  Catholic  churches  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Joseph  have  since  been  built;  the  Catholic  church 
of  St.  Patrick  also,  which  has  lately  been  enlarged  by  an 
addition  capable  of  containing  as  many  as  the  original  edifice. 
The  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake  has  been  built 
within  that  time,  to  which  is  attached  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy 
Name  of  Jesus,  as  also  the  Convent  of  "the  Sisters  of  Mercy," 
which  has  its  domestic  chapel.  Now  all  of  these  places  set 
apart  for  the  worship  of  God  and  for  the  celebration  of  the 
august  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  are  crowded  to  overflowing  every 
Sunday  with  Catholics.  What  stronger  proof  is  needed  of  the 
grand  and  rapid  increase  of  Catholics  in  this  city  ?23  " 


twenty-eight  thousand  out  of  a  total  Catholic  population  of  fifty 
thousand  for  Illinois. 

22  McGiRE,  Life  of  St.  Eev.  William  Quarter,  p.  87. 

23  Id.,  p.  86. 


126  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Bishop  ^  in  the  Diary  which  Bishop  Quarter  kept  during  his 

Diary^  residence  iri  Chicago  with  a  certain  old-world  leisureli- 
ness,  though  there  was  nothing  leisurely  in  the  energetic 
stride  of  his  episcopal  career,  the  outstanding  features 
of  his  personality  are  portrayed  by  his  own  hand  with 
intimate  and  often  vivid  touch.  No  other  form  of 
literature  leads  us  further  into  the  innermost  secrets  of 
human  character  than  the  Diary  or  Journal.  Bishop 
Quarter's  Chicago  Diary  is  no  exception  to  the  rule. 
One  may  not,  indeed,  call  it  a  journal  intime.  Rather 
does  it  deal  primarily  with  the  varied  official  busi- 
ness that  crowded  the  few  years  of  his  episcopal  career. 
And  yet  withal  it  does  in  one  entry  'and  another  re- 
veal very  intimately  what  manner  of  soul  was  behind 
the  steady  progress  of  visible  achievement  that  men  saw 
and  commented  on.  Zeal,  piety,  restless  energy,  sym- 
pathy with  his  flock,  unaffected  charity,  prudent  plan- 
ning for  the  future,  these  and  kindred  traits  of  the 
Christian  prelate  discover  themselves  in  its  carefully 
written  pages.  Now  he  records  his  joy  in  the  simple 
piety  and  zeal  for  religion  of  the  Catholic  servant-girls 
of  Chicago;  now  he  describes  the  solemn  services  at  the 
Cathedral,  not  overlooking  to  enter  accurately  the  names 
and  functions  of  the  clergy  participating;  and  now,  for 
to  every  phase  of  his  environment  he  seemed  to  be 
awake,  he  notes  the  state  of  the  weather  or  registers  the 
names  of  the  steamers,  which  as  he  looked  out  towards 
the  Lake  from  his  little  episcopal  cottage  on  Michigan 
Avenue,  he  saw  entering  or  leaving  the  harbor.  Some 
extracts  from  the  Diary  are  cited : 

"1844,  May  5.  The  residence  of  the  Bishop  and  of  the 
clergy  at  the  present  time  is  a  small  one-story  frame  building 
fronting-  the  lake.  There  are,  at  the  present  writing,  only  two 
priests  doing  duty  in  Chicago. 


BISHOP  QUARTER  127 

1844,  May.  The  old  church  is  a  long,  low,  frame  build- 
ing, having  a  small  steeple  and  bell  surmounted  by  a  cross. 
The  new  church  is  of  brick  and  is  a  respectable  building. 
Its  dimensions  are  one  hundred  feet  in  length  and  fifty- 
five  feet  in  width.  There  is  a  lot  of  ground  adjoining  the 
new  church  upon  which  may  yet  be  erected  the  diocesan 
Cathedral;  there  is  also  a  lot  in  the  rear  of  the  church, 
where  a  free  school  for  the  poor  of  the  congregation  may 
in  course  of  time  be  erected.  There  are  ten  acres  of  land  a 
short  distance  out  of  town  where  is  now  the  Catholic  burial 
ground  and  where  may  be  built  at  some  future  day  a  Charity 
Hospital.  The  residence  of  the  Bishop  and  of  the  clergy  at 
the  present  time  is  a  small  one-story  frame  building  fronting 
the  lake.  There  are,  at  the  present  time,  only  two  priests 
doing  duty  in  Chicago :  the  Rev.  Mr.  de  St.  Palais,  French, 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Fischer,  German;  there  are  two  Seminarians: 
Messrs.  P.  McMahan  and  Bernard  McGorisk,  and  one  boy  of 
the  age  of  15,  Timothy  Sullivan,  who  is  destined  for  the 
priesthood.  Second  Sunday  after  the  arrival  of  the  Bishop, 
May  12th,  the  Bishop  preached  at  the  High  Mass,  published 
that  the  Seminarians  named  above  would  receive  sub- 
deaconship  on  the  following  Thursday  (Ascension  day)  at 
8  o'clock  Mass;  and  that  there  would  be  a  meeting  of  the 
congregation  on  Monday  evening  at  7  o'clock  to  take  into 
consideration  the  best  mode  of  raising  subscriptions  to  plaster 
the  walls  and  finish  the  Cathedral.  The  meeting  was  held  and 
a  good  spirit  prevailed. 

May  24th,  Friday.  Today  the  Bishop  officiated  pon- 
tifically  and  raised  to  the  dignity  of  the  Priesthood  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  P.  McMahan  and  Bernard  McGorisk. 

June  3rd.  Today  received  a  letter  from  the  Bishop  of 
Vincennes  recalling  to  his  diocese  Rev.  Messrs,  de  St.  Palais, 
Fischer,  De  Pontavice  and  Gueguen. 

June  15th.  On  this  morning  the  Bishop  set  out,  in  com- 
pany with  Rev.  Mr.  de  St.  Palais  for  Joliet,  with  the  intention 

of  visiting  a  portion  of  the  Diocese, set  out  for 

Ottawa The  roads  were  very  bad;  swam  the  horses 

over  the  La  Salle  river;  stopped  that  night  at  Verniets  within 
nine  miles  of  Ottawa;  reached  Ottawa  next  day  early;  had 


128  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

some  difficulty  in  passing  the  sloughs;  had  to  apply  rails  to 
lift  the  carriage  out  of  them  twice;  found  a  steamboat  ready 
to  sail  down  the  Illinois  river;  stopped  at  Peru. 

June  19th.  Walked  to  La  Salle;  saw  the  church  and 
clergymen. 

August  23rd.  Rev.  Maurice  de  St.  Palais  took  his  de- 
parture from  Chicago  for  the  diocese  of  Vincennes. 

November  1.  On  All  Saints  Day  formed  a  society  among 
the  children  of  the  congregation  having  for  its  object  their 
religious  instruction. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  month  the  spire  of  the  steeple 
was  elevated  on  its  base.  The  steeple  erected  this  month  also, 
the  first  and  only  spire,  as  yet,  in  the  city  of  Chicago. 

1845,  March  15.  Saturday,  9  o'clock.  Just  noticed  the 
steamer  Champion  sailing  out  of  Chicago  harbor  for  St. 
Joseph,  Mich.,  her  first  trip  there  this  season. 

"Some  weeks  previous  to  Holy  Week,  Margaret  Donohue, 
domestic  at  the  Bishop's,  inquired  of  the  Bishop  if  there 
would  not  be  a  Repository  prepared  for  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment during  Holy  Week.  The  Bishop  had  but  little  hope  of 
making  much  preparations  for  Holy  Week,  owing  to  the 
unfinished  state  of  the  church;  but  when  the  question  was 
asked  he  told  this  pious  girl  to  make  what  preparations  she 
could.  She  immediately  set  to  work  and  the  following  pious 
girls,  all  of  whom  are  living  out,  lent  their  aid,  viz.  Mary 
Long,  who  was  indefatigable,  Mary  Casey  and  Mary  Gleason. 
These  girls  collected  amongst  their  acquaintance  many  orna- 
ments. Mr.  Thomas  Aughoney,  one  of  the  Seminarians,  had 
already  constructed  a  neat  altar  in  the  basement  of  the  church, 
and  this  the  girls  proposed  dressing  up  for  a  Repository. 
When  Holy  Week  arrived,  they  spread  on  the  platform  of 
the  little  altar  a  carpet  they  had  already  purchased  and  then 
went  on  arranging  the  drapery,  flower  vases,  etc.,  until  it  was 
tastefully  and  very  neatly  arranged  before  Holy  Thursday. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  when  the  funds  gave  out  and 
they  could  not  purchase  all  the  artificial  flowers  they  wanted, 
so  as  to  weave  a  wreath  for  the  front  of  the  altar,  they 
stripped  their  bonnets  of  their  ornaments  and  made  a  wreath 
of  those  flowers  to  adorn  the  Altar  of  their  God,  which  before 


THE 

ROSARIST'S  COMPANION; 

OR, 

MANUAL  OF  DEVOUT  EXERCISES: 

COMPRlSr.VG 

NIGHT  AND  MORNING  PRAYERS, 

PRAYERS  AT  MASS,  &c. 

The  Rosaries  of  B.  V.  M.,  and  of  Jesus;  the  Little 
Office  of  Uie  B.  V.  M. :  the  Rules  of  the  Con- 
fraternity of  the  Scapular;  together  with  the 
Indulgences  granted  to  the  Confrater- 
nities of  Rosary  aud  Scapular. 

THE   DEVOTION  OF  THE 

WAY   OF    THE    CROSS 

OF   THE 

SACRED  HEART: 

And  of  the  Association  for  a  Happy  Death,  called 
Bono.  Nors. 

THE  ARCH-CONFRATERNITY  OF  THE 

IMMACULATE  HEART  OF  MARY, 

For  the  Conversion  of  Sinners. 

VESPERS,— OR  EVENING  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

IN  LATIN  AND  ENGLISH. 

CHICAGOt 
PRINTED    FOR    THE    PROPRIETOR, 

And  sold  by  Charles  M'Donnel,  corner  of  Ma rkctand  Randolph 
Streets,  near  the  South  Branch  Bridge. 


Title  page  of  the  first  Catholic  book  published  in  Chicago. 
"During  his  stay,  the  latter  [Rev.  James  Cummiskey]  has  pub- 
lished a  catechism  for  the  Diocese  that  has  received  the  sanction 
of  the  Bishop,  and  a  work  entitled  "Rosarist's  Companion,"  for 
the  use  of  the  members  of  the  different  Confraternities  of  which 
it  treats.  These  two  are,  it  is  believed,  the  first  Catholic  books 
ever  published  in  Chicago."  Bishop  Quarter's  Diary.  Copy  of 
Bosarist's  Companion  in  possession  of  Miss  Harriet  McDonnell, 
daughter  of  Charles  McDonnell,  proprietor  of  Chicago's  first 
Catholic  book  store. 


BISHOP  QUARTER  129 

might  have  subserved  their  own  vanity!  May  our  Heavenly 
Father  reward  such  devotedness,  such  piety  in  his  humble 
handmaids.  At  his  birth  the  poor  were  the  first  to  wait  on 
the  Infant  Jesus.  At  his  death  also,  and  in  this  new  See  of 
Chicago,  the  poor  girls  were  the  first  to  prepare  for  our 
Lord  the  Repository. 

March  24.  On  this  evening  at  6  o'clock  the  steamboat 
Bunker  Hill  left  the  harbor  of  Chicago  for  Buffalo — the  first 
boat  run  on  the  lake  this  season — a  fine,  cool  evening — clear 
weather. 

Low  Sunday,  March  30.  There  was  in  the  church  Rev. 
Jas.  Cummiskey,  who  is  sojourning  in  the  city  since  last  fall. 
During  his  stay,  the  latter  has  published  a  catechism  for  the 
sanction  of  the  Bishop,  and  a  work  entitled  "Rosarist's  Com- 
panion," for  the  use  of  the  different  Confraternities  of  which 
it  treats.  These  two  are,  it  is  believed,  the  first  Catholic  works 
ever  published  in  Chicago.  A  Catholic  book-store  has  been 
opened  last  week  by  Charles  McDonnell;  this  is  the  first 
Catholic  book-store  in  the  city.24 

April  7.  Monday  morning,  at  9  o'clock,  a  violent  snow- 
storm set  in.  About  an  hour  previous,  mountainous  clouds 
hovered  over  the  lake,  towards  the  northeast,  their  peaks 
sunclad,  their  flanks  dark  and  shadowing.  They  burst  opposite 
Chicago  ana  emptied  themselves  of  snow  to  the  depth  of 
three  or  four  inches  in  the  city.  The  lake  swelled  its  waves 
and  as  the  storm  has  not  subsided  entirely  at  10  o'clock,  the 
troubled,  agitated  waters  of  the  lake  still  rage  and  rave.  The 
Champion  was  seen  returning  into  the  harbor,  having  made 
probably  a  fruitless  attempt  to  reach  Milwaukee. 

January,  1846.  About  the  first  Sunday  of  the  New  Year, 
Sister  Mary  Agatha  O'Brien,  first  Mother  Superior  of  the 
"Sisters  of  Mercy"  in  Chicago,  formed  a  society  amongst  the 
female  children  of  the  congregation,  called  the  society  of  the 


24  The  McDonnell  bookstore  was  on  the  east  side  of  Market 
Street,  between  Lake  and  Randolph  Streets.  Miss  Harriet  Mc- 
Donnell, a  daughter  of  Chicago's  pioneer  Catholic  book-dealer,  is 
still  a  resident  in  the  city. 


130  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

"Children  of  Mary."  About  sixty  female  children  entered  their 
names  as  members. 

On  the  Saturday  before  the  first  Sunday  after  Epiphany, 
Mr.  Hampston,  one  of  the  Seminarians,  formed  a  society 
amongst  the  boys,  under  the  patronage  of  'St.  Joseph.' 

January  9th.  The  first  Sunday  after  Epiphany  the  fol- 
lowing named  Catholic  gentlemen  met  in  the  Bishop's  room 
after  Vespers:  .'Messrs.  John  Breen,  John  McGovern,  Charles 
McDonnell,  William  Snowhook,  Thomas  Kinsella,  John  Devlin, 
all  Irish,  and  Mr.  Ellis,  Scotch,  and  had  a  conversation  re- 
garding the  propriety  of  establishing  a  society  to  be  known 
by  the  name  of  the  'Hibernian  Benevolent  Emigrant  Society.' 
The  Bishop  said  he  approved  highly  of  the  design  of  forming 
such  a  society — that  it  was  called  for  by  every  feeling  of 
humanity,  benevolence  and  charity — and  that  it  should  have 
his  hearty  co-operation.  He  showed  that  the  active  efforts  of 
such  a  society  could  not  fail  to  benefit  the  State,  whilst  it 
would  be  of  service  to  the  emigrant  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
Many  had  sought  the  West  during  the  past  year.  It  was 
likely  that  a  large  number  would  turn  their  steps  westward 
the  coming  spring  and  every  feeling  of  sympathizing  humanity 
seemed  to  require  that  there  be  someone  to  bid  the  stranger 
'Welcome.' "  25 

Death  of  The  stream  of  Bishop  Quarter's  health  and  energy 

Quarter  was  flowing  at  full  tide  when  death  claimed  him  at  the 
early  age  of  forty-two.  On  Passion  Sunday,  April  9, 
1848,  he  preached  at  the  Cathedral  High  Mass  on  the 
Apostolicity  of  the  Church.  Father  Jeremiah  A.  Kin- 
sella, President  of  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the 


25  "The  march  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  this  State  [Illinois] 
is  onward.  Nothing  will  appear  so  obvious  to  the  traveller,  even 
the  least  observant,  as  this  fact.  A  constant  flood  of  emigration 
pours  into  this  fertile  country;  every  ship  or  steam-boat  that 
ploughs  through  Lake  Michigan  to  Chicago  comes  loaded  with 
settlers,  the  most  of  them  are  Catholics."  ' ' Americanus "  in  the 
St.  Louis  News  Letter,  August  8,  1846. 


BISHOP  QUARTER  131 

Lake,  who  was  present,  declared  that  he  had  never  heard 
the  theme  handled  with  more  telling  effect.26  On  leaving 
the  pulpit  the  Bishop  expressed  himself  as  feeling  very 
much  fatigued  after  the  effort  and  it  was  remarked  that 
his  voice  at  Vespers  on  that  day  lacked  its  usual  fullness 
of  tone.  But  otherwise  he  did  not  appear  particularly 
unwell  and  in  the  evening  in  converse  with  his  friends 
his  customary  liveliness  of  manner  did  not  forsake  him. 
He  retired  early,  after  remarking  to  Father  McElhearne, 
who  resided  with  him,  that  he  felt  indisposed,  but  that 
he  thought  sleep  would  restore  him.  About  three  o  'clock 
in  the  morning,  Monday,  April  10,  Father  McElhearne 
was  awakened  by  loud  moans  that  came  from  the 
Bishop's  apartment.  Hurrying  at  once  to  his  aid,  he 
found  him  very  weak  and  in  great  distress  from  a  severe 
pain  in  the  head.  The  Father  realized  that  the  Bishop 's 
strength  was  rapidly  failing  him ;  and  so,  after  summon- 
ing medical  aid,  he  proceeded  at  once  to  administer  to 
him  the  last  rites  of  the  church.  Scarcely  had  this  timely 


-e  Bishop  Quarter  appears  from  numerous  testimonies  to  have 
been  an  excellent  preacher.  In  this  connection  the  following  item 
from  the  St.  Louis  News  Letter,  November  21,  1847,  may  be 
quoted.  It  refers  to  a  slow  and  tedious  river-trip  which  the 
Bishop  made  from  La  Salle  to  Alton  during  low  water :  ' '  He 
was  not,  however,  while  on  board  idle.  He  preached  several  times 
to  a  number  of  most  respectable  and  intelligent  passengers  (about 
two  hundred)  composed  of  physicians,  lawyers,  merchants  and 
wealthy  planters,  the  most  of  whom  were  just  returning  from 
the  Saratoga  Springs  to  their  homes  in  the  Sunny  South.  He 
answered  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  the  most  popular  objections 
urged  against  Catholic  doctrine  and  Catholic  discipline.  All  the 
passengers  were  highly  delighted  with  the  Bishop — his  easy  and 
dignified  manner  commanded  the  respect  even  of  the  most 
bigoted." 


132  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

service  been  rendered  when  the  Bishop  uttered  the 
words,  "Lord,  have  mercy  on  my  poor  soul."  They 
were  the  last  he  spoke.  He  straightway  relapsed  into 
unconsciousness,  dying  a  few  minutes  later.  When  Dr. 
McGirr,  his  physician  and  intimate  friend,  reached  his 
bedside,  all  was  over.  The  first  Bishop  of  Chicago  had 
rested  from  his  labors;  but  his  works,  and  they  seemed 
of  surpassing  merit,  followed  him.27 


27  Following  the  final  entry  in  Bishop  Quarter 's  Diary  is  a 
notice  of  his  death  written  by  Father  Kinsella,  President  of  the 
University  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake.  "April  10,  1848.  Died,  at 
his  Episcopal  residence,  Chicago,  the  Eight  Rev.  Dr.  Quarter,  the 
first  Bishop  of  Chicago.  On  the  day  preceding  his  death,  Sunday 
of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  lectured  at  last  Mass 
in  the  Cathedral  on  the  Apostolicity  of  the  church.  We  have 
never  heard  so  profound  a  discourse  on  the  same  subject.  What 
an  open  and  sincere  profession  of  Faith  did  the  Apostle  of  this 
young  church  make  the  day  before  he  gave  up  his  pure  spirit  to 
Him  who  gave  it!  Shortly  before  3  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
the  10th,  the  Rev.  Mr.  McElhearne,  the  clergyman  who  resided 
with  the  Bishop,  and  the  housekeeper,  were  awakened  by  loud 
moans.  They  hurried  instantly  to  the  Bishop's  apartment  and 
found  him  walking  through  his  room.  He  complained  most  of 
pain  in  his  head  and  heart.  He  thought  there  was  no  necessity 
of  medical  aid,  but  wished  frequently  to  see  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kin- 
sella, President  of  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake.  He 
began  to  sink  rapidly  and  the  time  of  his  dissolution  seemed  to 
be  at  hand ;  so  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  McElhearne  deemed  it  necessary 
to  administer  to  him  all  those  consolations  which  our  Holy  Church 
prescribes  to  be  given  to  the  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ  at  their 
dying  moments.  He  lived  only  a  few  minutes  afterwards.  The 
soul  of  the  disinterested,  the  zealous,  the  holy,  pious  Bishop  Quar- 
ter at  the  hour  of  3  o'clock  on  this  morning  fled  to  its  God, 
whose  vicar  he  was  in  truth,  to  render  an  account  of  his  steward- 
ship and  to  receive  the  great  reward  that  was  due  his  truly  apos- 
tolic labors.  J.  A.  Kinsella,  Pres.  U.  St.  M.  of  the  Lake." 


BISHOP  QUARTER  133 

Grief  in  Chicago  over  the  demise  of  the  brilliant 
young  prelate,  thus  snatched  away  with  tragic  sudden- 
ness from  the  scenes  of  his  ever-growing  usefulness,  was 
as  universal  as  it  was  unfeigned.  Through  long 
hours,  great  crowds  of  the  Catholic  laity  and  large 
numbers  of  the  Protestant  population  of  the  city, 
clergymen  among  them,  thronged  the  humble  epis- 
copal residence  on  Michigan  Avenue,  where  the  re- 
mains of  the  deceased  were  first  laid  out.  At  three 
o'clock  on  Friday,  Feast  of  the  Seven  Dolors,  the  funeral 
rites  took  place  at  the  Cathedral  with  every  solemnity 
which  the  young  Church  of  Chicago  could  command. 
The  Office  of  the  Dead  was  chanted  by  the  assembled 
clergy  and  an  eloquent  eulogy  of  the  deceased  Bishop 
pronounced  by  Father  Feely  of  Peoria.  The  remains 
were  interred  in  a  specially  prepared  vault  under  the 
sanctuary  and  directly  in  front  of  the  high  altar  of  the 
Cathedral.  Dr.  McGirr,  Bishop  Quarter's  physician 
and  biographer,  dwells  on  the  impressive  scenes  that 
marked  the  obsequies. 

"At  half -past  four  o'clock  the  procession  formed  to  con- 
duct the  body  to  its  resting  place.  First  came  the  clergymen 
a/id  ecclesiastical  students — then  the  body,  borne  by  six  priests 
— then  the  students  of  the  University — then  the  pupils  of  the 
Academy  of  St.  Francis  Xavier — then  followed  the  people 
of  all  denominations,  sexes  and  sizes.  It  passed  out  of  the 
church ;  moved  round  to  the  rear,  where  a  tomb  had  been 
prepared  for  it  beneath  the  sanctuary,  and  in  front  of  the 
altar  which  he  himself  had  reared.  The  ceremony  was 
orderly  and  imposing.  And  when  the  clergymen  in  their 
white  surplices,  with  lighted  candles  in  their  hands,  and  the 
beautiful  little  children  of  the  Academy,  dressed  in  white, 
reminding  one  of  guardian  angels,  watching  to  protect  us, 
stood  with  lighted  candles  in  their  hands  around  the  tomb, 


134  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

while  the  body  was  being  committed  to  its  kindred  earth,  the 
effect  was  beyond  description." 

Here  in  the  first  Catholic  Cathedral  of  Chicago,  at 
the  southwest  corner  of  Madison  Street  and  Wabash 
Avenue,  the  remains  of  Bishop  Quarter  continued  to 
rest  until  the  great  fire  of  1871  when  they  were  trans- 
ferred to  Calvary.28 

Testimony  of  value  to  the  sterling  wrorth  of  Bishop 
Quarter's  personality  is  to  be  found  in  the  impression 
he  made  in  non-Catholic  circles  of  the  city.  Distin- 
guished citizens  of  the  day,  like  William  B.  Ogden, 
AY  alter  Newberry  and  J.  Young  Scammon,  though  dif- 
fering from  him  in  religious  affiliation,  lent  him  liberal 
financial  aid  and  encouragement  in  the  various  enter- 
prises to  which  he  put  his  hand;  for  which  generosity, 
Dr.  McGirr  wrote  in  1848,  the  Catholic  Church  of  Chi- 
cago owed  them  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  would  not 
soon  be  forgotten.  One  gets  an  idea  of  the  esteem  in 
which  the  Bishop  was  held  by  his  Protestant  friends 
from  the  tribute  to  his  memory  which  one  of  their  num- 
ber, Mr.  J.  Lisle  Smith,  put  on  record  in  the  Chicago 
Journal. 

"In  the  social  circle  he  was  beloved  by  all  who  knew 
him.  In  his  public  sphere  of  duty,  he  was  universally  admired 
and  respected.  Enemies  he  had  none;  for  his  kind  and  gentle 
spirit  disarmed  opposers  and  converted  them  into  warm  and 
devoted  friends. 


25  A  marble  cenotaph  of  Bishop  Quarter  designed  by  Van 
Osdel  and  executed  in  the  studios  of  A.  S.  Sherman  stood  in  the 
south  wall  of  St.  Mary's  Cathedral  a  few  feet  from  the  south 
altar.  It  measured  seven  feet,  four  inches  high  by  four  feet, 
three  inches  wide  and  was  surmounted  by  a  richly  ornamented 
urn  fifteen  inches  high,  "the  whole  presenting  a  most  beautiful 
and  striking  appearance  as  you  entered  the  church." 


BISHOP  QUARTER  135 

Such  a  man's  departure  to  another  sphere  is  a  great 
calamity.  Who  can  supply  his  place?  Who  can,  in  so  short 
a  sojourn  in  a  land  of  strangers,  again  make  so  many  and 
such  true  friends  T' 

"But  he  is  gone — gone  to  his  great  reward.  Peace  to  his 
ashes.  Honor  to  his  memory!" 

A  similar  vein  of  esteem  and  affection  for  the  de- 
ceased prelate  runs  through  the  stanzas  of  a  poem 
written  on  the  occasion  of  his  death  by  a  young  Prot- 
estant poetess  of  Chicago,  Miss  Mary  A.  Merritt. 

"Sorrow  not  as  those  without  a  hope" 

Now  all  is  over !  to  the  requiem 

Of  the  deep  organ,  solemn  in  its  swell, 
They  bore  him  onward  to  the  chamber  dim, 

Our  Friend — our  Father — he  that  loved  us  well ! 
Never !  ah,  never,  shall  so  kind  a  glance 

Send  us  the  greeting  he  was  wont  to  send, 
0  'er  the  calm  brightness  of  his  countenance 

The  chilling  shadows  of  the  grave  descend. 

His  form  is  resting  'neath  the  saintly  shade 

Of  shrine  and  altar  that  he  helped  to  rear ; 
Within  their  silence  he  hath  knelt  and  prayed, 

And  it  is  fitting  we  should  lay  him  here. 
So  may  the  organ's  wild  and  thrilling  peal 

A  mournful  requiem  o'er  his  slumber  pour, 
While  our  hushed  spirits  thrill  again  to  feel 

His  presence  near  us  though  of  earth  no  more.29 

Our  meagre  account  of  Bishop  Quarter's  brilliant, 
if  fleeting,  episcopal  career  in  Chicago  may  here  find  an 


29  Quoted  in  McGiRR,  Life  of  Bt.  Rev.  William  Quarter,  p.  98. 
Miss  Merritt  devoted  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  a  volume  of  her 
poems  to  the  erection  of  the  marble  cenotaph  of  Bishop  Quarter 
in  St.  Mary's  Cathedral. 


136  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

end.  When  in  the  June  following  his  death  Bishop 
Hughes  of  New  York,  who  had  consecrated  him  in  1844, 
passed  through  Chicago,  he  was  in  admiration  at  what 
the  dead  prelate  had  accomplished  in  so  short  a  time, 
saying  more  than  once:  "Oh,  if  all  would  labor  like 
Bishop  Quarter.  Look  at  what  he  has  done!  See  the 
University,  see  that  Convent!  What  had  he  when  he 
came  here — and  still  see  what  he  has  left  after  him. 
Bishop  Quarter  is  gone,  but  Bishop  Quarter's  memory 
shall  never  be,  can  never  be  forgotten  in  Chicago."30 


30  McGovERN,  The  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago,  p.  89. 


\ 


Rt.  Eev.  James  Oliver  Van  de  Velcle,  second  Bishop  of  Chi- 
cago, 1849-1853.  Born  in  Belgium  in  1795.  Transferred  in  1853 
to  the  See  of  Natchez,  where  he  died  in  1855.  As  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus  before  his  elevation  to  episcopal  rank, 
he  held  important  executive  positions  including  those  of  President 
of  Saint  Louis  University  and  Superior  of  the  Vice-Province  of 
Missouri. 


CHAPTER  VI 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE 


On  the  death  of  Bishop  Quarter,  his  brother,  Father 
Walter  Quarter,  at  the  instance  of  the  neighboring 
Bishops,  took  provisionally  in  hand  the  administration 
of  the  diocese,  a  step  subsequently  approved  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore  and  the  Holy  See.  Father 
Quarter  showed  himself  zealous  and  energetic  in  ful- 
filling this  important  charge,  though  for  lack  of  funds 
he  made  no  attempt  to  carry  forward  the  new  projects 
to  which  his  brother  was  about  to  put  his  hand.  Shortly 
before  the  latter 's  death,  arrangements  had  been  made 
to  add  to  the  spacious  building  of  the  University  another 
one  of  brick.  Moreover,  the  Convent  and  Academy  of 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy  was  to  receive  an  addition  that 
would  double  the  capacity  of  the  original  building,  a 
charity  hospital  and  an  orphan  asylum  were  to  be 
erected  and  steps  had  been  taken  towards  the  publication 
of  a  Catholic  paper  in  Chicago.  It  was  left  to  the 
second  Bishop  of  Chicago,  James  Oliver  Van  de  Velde, 
to  take  in  hand  and  realize  these  noble  designs  in  the 
cause  of  Christian  charity  and  religious  growth  left  him 
as  a  precious  heritage  by  his  predecessor. 

Under  date  of  December  14,  1848,  Father  Quarter 
wrote  in  his  Diary:  "14th.  Received  a  letter  this 
morning  from  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  of  Baltimore 
stating  that  Very  Rev.  J.  Van  de  Velde,  of  St.  Louis, 

137 


138  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

is  appointed  Bishop  of  Chicago  in  place  of  my  brother, 
the  Right  Eev.  Dr.  Quarter.  Glory  be  to  God!  May 
his  Episcopal  reign  be  such  as  will  give  glory  to  God 
and  peace  to  the  Church  is  all  I  have  to  say;  I  rejoice, 
however,  that  the  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Van  de  Velde  is  the 
person  appointed."1 

James  Oliver  James  Oliver  Van  de  Velde  was  born  in  Lebbeke, 

near  Termonde,  in  Belgium,  April  3,  1795.     While  a 


educator  candidate  for  the  priesthood  in  the  Grand  Seminary  of 

Mechlin,  he  came  under  the  spell  of  the  heroic  Father 
Nerinckx,  then  in  Belgium  in  search  of  financial  aid  and 
clerical  workers  for  his  destitute  missions  of  Kentucky. 
It  was  agreed  between  the  two  that  Mr.  Van  de  Velde 
should  accompany  the  missionary  to  America  and  com- 
plete his  theological  studies  in  Bishop  Flaget  's  Seminary 
at  Bardstown.  Accordingly,  in  company  with  Father 
Nerinckx  and  a  party  of  clerical  recruits,  among  them 
several  young  Belgians  on  their  way  to  the  Jesuit 
Novitiate  at  Georgetown  College,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic 
in  the  spring  of  1817,  in  the  brig  Mars,  Captain  Hall. 
After  a  few  weeks'  stay  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Balti- 
more, where  he  recovered  from  the  effects  of  an  accident 
he  had  met  with  on  board  the  ship,  he  was  received  into 
the  Jesuit  Novitiate  at  Georgetown  College,  August  23, 
1817.  Here  he  remained  fourteen  years,  meantime  being 


1  Bishop  Quarter 's  Diary  was  continued  by  his  brother,  Father 
Walter  Quarter,  and  later  by  Bishop  Van  de  Velde.  Father  Quar- 
ter returned  to  the  diocese  of  New  York,  to  which  he  originally 
belonged,  shortly  after  the  arrival  of  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  in 
Chicago.  He  was  visited  in  1851  at  his  rectory  in  New  York  City 
by  two  young  Chicagoans,  John  McMullen  and  James  McGovern, 
then  on  their  way  to  Eome,  where  they  were  to  make  their  ecclesi- 
astical studies  at  the  Propaganda. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  139 

raised  to  the  priesthood,  1827,  and  discharging  various 
duties,  among  others  those  of  professor  of  Belles  Lettres 
and  librarian  of  the  College.  The  last-named  occupation 
particularly  appealed  to  him  and  he  notes  in  a  Memoir 
with  evident  satisfaction  the  circumstance  that  he  found 
the  library  of  Georgetown  College,  when  he  assumed  its 
management  in  1818,  a  mere  handful  of  some  two  hun- 
dred books  and  left  it  in  1831  a  great  collection  of 
twenty  thousand  volumes.  In  that  year  Father  Van  de 
Velde  was  attached  by  his  Superiors  to  the  teaching 
staff  of  the  college,  soon  to  become  a  University,  con- 
ducted by  the  Jesuits  since  1829  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 
He  travelled  AVest  in  company  with  Father  Peter 
Kenny,  Visitor  of  the  Jesuit  houses  in  the  United 
States,  and  Father  William  McSherry,  Assistant  of  the 
latter,  the  three  having  enjoyed  the  rare  good  for- 
tune on  the  eve  of  their  journey  of  being  entertained 
by  the  venerable  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton  at  his 
mansion,  Doughregan  Manor,  in  Howard  County, 
Maryland.2 

Father  Van  de  Velde,  after  being  attached  to  the 
Missouri  Jesuits,  filled  various  posts  of  honor  and  im- 
portance among  them.  At  St.  Louis  University  he  was 
successively  Professor  of  Belles  Lettres,  Vice-President 
and  President.  During  the  period  1843-1848  he  was 
Superior  of  the  Vice-Province  of  Missouri,  of  which 
office  he  had  been  relieved  but  a  few  months  when 
word  came  to  him  that  he  had  been  named  by  the  Holy 
See  to  the  vacant  see  of  Chicago.  An  account  from 


2  In  keeping  with  the  European  custom  favoring  a  certain 
prodigality  in  the  bestowal  of  proper  names,  the  full  name  of  the 
second  Bishop  of  Chicago  was  John  Andrew  James  Oliver  Bene- 
dict Rotthier  Van  de  Velde. 


140 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 


Van  de 
Velde's 
appointment 
to  the  See. 
of  Chicago 


Father  Van  de  Velde's  own  hand  gives  interesting 
details  of  the  circumstances  under  which  the  appoint- 
ment was  received. 

"In  the  beginning  of  November  of  the  same  year  [1848] 
Father  Van  de  Velde  went  to  New  York  to  transact  some 
business  of  importance  for  the  V[ice]  Province.  On  his 
return  he  passed  through  Baltimore,  where  on  the  very  day 
of  his  arrival  the  news  had  reached  that  the  Holy  Father 
had  nominated  him  to  the  vacant  see  of  Chicago.  This  intel- 
ligence was  communicated  to  him  by  the  Very  Rev.  L.  E. 
Deluol,  Superior  of  the  Sulpicians,  and  was  contained  in  a 
letter  which  the  latter  had  just  received  from  Right  Rev.  Dr. 
Chanche,  Bishop  of  Natchez,  who  was  then  in  Paris  and  had 
obtained  official  information  of  it  from  the  Apostolic  Nuncio, 
Monsignor  Fornari.  Father  Van  de  Velde  left  Baltimore  the 
same  day,  before  the  news  of  his  nomination  was  known  to 
any  of  his  friends,  and  out-travelled  it  till  he  reached  Cin- 
cinnati, where  a  telegraphic  dispatch  announcing  it  had  been 
received  from  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  on  the  morning 
of  his  arrival.  On  his  way  to  St.  Louis  he  visited  Bards- 
town  to  consult  the  Rev.  F.  Verhaegen,  then  President  of  St. 
Joseph's  College,  concerning  the  manner  in  which  he  should 
act  under  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed.  It  was 
agreed  that  he  should  decline  the  nomination  unless  compelled 
by  an  express  command  of  His  Holiness.  He  reached  St. 
Louis  in  the  beginning  of  December.  There  all  was  known 
and  the  Brief  with  a  letter  freeing  him  from  all  allegiance 
to  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  appointing  him  to  the  vacant 
see  of  Chicago,  arrived  but  a  few  days  later.  It  bore  the 
superscription  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  who  by  letter 
urged  him  to  accept.  Not  long  before  we  had  been  informed 
by  the  papers  that  Rome  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Socialist  rebels  and  that  the  Holy  Father  had  fled  in  disguise 
from  the  holy  city.  Hence  Father  Van  de  Velde,  who  was 
anxious  to  return  the  package,  knew  not  whither  to  send  it, 
and  kept  it  for  several  days  unsealed,  as  he  had  received  it. 
In  the  meantime  he  wrote  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the 
Propaganda  and  to  the  General  of  the  Society,  who  had  also 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  141 

left  Rome,  endeavoring  to  be  freed  from  the  burden  which  it 
was  intended  to  impose  upon  him.  In  his  perplexity  he  went 
to  consult  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis  to  know  whither  he 
should  send  the  Brief  of  appointment,  in  case  it  should  ar- 
rive, for  no  one  yet  knew  that  he  had  received  it.  The  Arch- 
bishop, before  answering,  insisted  upon  knowing  whether  the 
Brief  had  been  received.  On  being  answered  in  the  affirma- 
tive and  having  the  package  presented  to  him  he  immediately 
broke  the  seal  and  examined  the  contents.  He  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  the  letter,  if  not  the  Brief,  contained  a  command 
to  accept  and  used  his  influence  to  prevail  upon  Father  Van 
de  Velde  to  do  so  and  to  be  consecrated  without  delay.  The 
nominee  asked  for  a  delay  of  six  weeks  to  reflect  on  the 
matter,  hoping  that  in  the  meantime  he  would  receive  answers 
to  the  letters  which  he  had  written  to  Rome  and  to  France. 
Unwilling  to  accept  the  nomination  and  distrusting  his  own 
judgment,  he  referred  the  matter  as  a  case  of  conscience  to 
three  theologians,  requesting  them  to  decide  whether  the  words 
of  the  letter  contained  a  positive  command  and  whether,  in 
case  they  did,  he  was  bound  under  sin  to  obey.  Their  decision 
was  in  the  affirmative  and  he  submitted  to  bear  the  yoke.  He 
was  consecrated  on  Sexagesima  Sunday,  llth  of  February, 
1849,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  attached  to  the 
University  [of  St.  Louis],  by  the  Most  Rev.  Peter  R.  Kenrick, 
assisted  by  the  Bishops  of  Dubuque  and  Nashville,  and  the 
Right  Rev.  Dr.  Spalding  delivered  the  consecration  sermon." 

Immediately  after  his  consecration,  Bishop  Van  de 
Velde  began  to  visit  some  of  the  parishes  of  his  juris-1 
diction  in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis.  Cahokia, 
Kaskaskia  and  Quincy  were  given  an  opportunity  to 
welcome  him,  and  sermons  were  preached  by  him  in 
these  rounds  in  English,  French  and  German.3  He 


3  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  wrote  English  with  an  idiomatic  pro- 
priety and  ease  remarkable  in  one  for  whom  the  language  was  not 
a  natural  inheritance  but  a  laborious  acquisition.  An  official  rec- 
ord of  his  attainments  made  by  his  Jesuit  superiors  notes  his  ac- 


142  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

reached  Chicago  Friday,  March  30,  and  was  installed 
in  St.  Mary's  Cathedral  on  April  1,  Palm  Sunday.4 
On  July  25  following  his  installation  at  Chicago, 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde  started  off  on  his  first  extended 
visitation  of  the  diocese.  Though  it  lasted  but  five 
weeks,  he  visited  twenty-two  different  places,  confirming, 
preaching  and  discharging  other  episcopal  duties  with 
every  token  of  apostolic  zeal.  At  Prairie  de  Rocher, 
in  the  course  of  this  visitation,  he  exhumed  the  remains 
of  Father  Sebastian  Meurin,  last  survivor  of  the  pre- 
suppression  Jesuits  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  had 
them  conveyed  to  the  cemetery  of  the  Jesuit  Novitiate 
at  Florissant  in  Missouri,  "where,"  as  he  wrote, 
"exists  the  first  cemetery  of  the  restored  Society  in 
the  West,  a  beautiful  spot,  and  where  his  precious 
remains  reposing  near  those  of  Fathers  Van  Quicken- 
borne,  Timmermans,  De  Theux  and  others  will  form 
the  connecting  link  between  the  suppressed  and  revived 
Society."5 

Destitution  jn  a  letter  addressed  under  date  of  December  13, 
1849,  to  the  French  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith,  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  sketched  briefly  but 
graphically  the  widespread  poverty  and  spiritual  desti- 
tution he  had  encountered  in  his  first  visitation  of  the 
diocese : 


quaintance    also    with    French,    Flemish,    German,    Spanish    and 
Italian. 

4  Bishop  Van  de  Velde 's  Diary  in  McGovERN,  The  Catholic 
Church  in  Chicago,  p.  101. 

5  Letter  of  Van  de  Velde  in  Freeman 's  Journal,  September 
15,  1849,  cited  in  CLARK,  Lives  of  the  Deceased  Bishops  of  the 
United  States,  2:  381. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  143 

"Since  my  consecration,  I  have  visited  almost  a  third  of 
my  diocese.  This  episcopal  tour  of  inspection,  equivalent  to 
a  journey  of  twelve  hundred  French  leagues,  has  revealed  to 
me  in  all  its  extent  the  misery  of  the  flock  entrusted  to  me. 
You  will  form  an  idea  of  it,  gentlemen,  from  this  passing 
glimpse,  the  heart-rending  accuracy  of  which  I  have  verified 
with  my  own  eyes. 

In  general,  the  emigrants  who  come  to  these  parts  and  who 
make  up  almost  the  entire  Catholic  population,  are  not  in  a 
position  to  supply  even  their  own  wants.  Poverty  is  so  great 
that  there  is  not  a  single  parish,  even  among  those  longest 
established,  which  is  sufficiently  provided  with  the  necessary 
equipment  for  the  celebration  of  the  sacred  rites.  A  single 
priest  has  sometimes  eight  parishes  to  attend  and  as  he  has 
for  those  various  stations  only  one  chalice,  one  missal,  one 
chasuble,  one  alb,  one  altar-stone,  he  must  perforce  carry  all 
these  articles  with  him,  however  long  and  distressing  be  the 
way.  As  to  monstrances  and  ciboria,  such  things  are  almost 
unknown  in  the  diocese.  Thus  far,  in  all  the  parishes,  ranging 
through  3,700  English  miles,  which  I  have  visited,  I  have  seen 
only  three  monstrances  and  five  ciboria.  In  default  of  sacred 
vessels  they  reserve  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  a  corporal  or 
else  in  a  tinbox  or  porcelain  cup. 

After  these  details  I  think  it  superfluous  to  give  you  a 
description  of  my  episcopal  residence.  It  is  on  a  par  with 
everything  else.  I  don't  know  whether  it  is  the  humblest  in 
the  world,  but  at  least  certain  it  is  that  none  poorer  is  to  be 
found  in  America."  6 

Nothing  reveals  more  pointedly  the  zeal  and  energy   Bishop 
which  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  brought  to  the  discharge  of  ^^ 
his  official  duties  than  the  manner  in  which  he  performed   Diary 
at  intervals  the  visitation  of  his  diocese.     For  one  of 
his  advancing  years  and  uncertain  health  these  periodic 
journeys  up   and   down  the   State,   however  consoling 
from  an  apostolic  standpoint,  were  by  no  means  pleasant 


8  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  22 :  313. 


144  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

experiences  from  the  standpoint  of  personal  convenience 
and  comfort.  By  river  packet,  stage,  carriage,  "mud- 
wagon,"  and  towards  the  end,  occasionly  by  railroad, 
the  Bishop  made  his  way  to  the  Catholic  settlements 
scattered  through  Illinois  often  in  the  most  out-of-the- 
way  and  almost  inaccessible  localities.7  Certain  graphic 
entries  in  his  Diary  help  us  to  understand  the  strenuous, 
uncomfortable  side  of  these  apostolic  visitations : 

"[1849]  June  7th.  The  Bishop  of  Chicago  arrived  at 
Galena,  having  performed  the  whole  journey  from  the  Aux- 
plaines  River  in  a  mud-wagon,  in  which  he  spent  two  days 
and  nearly  two  nights. 

September  25th.  Said  Mass  again  at  Bourbonnais  and 
left  for  the  South;  several  members  of  the  Congregation  ac- 
companied me  in  carriages  and  on  horseback  to  the  other  side 
of  the  Kankakee  river,  with  the  Pastor  at  their  head.  Passed 
through  immense  prairies;  dined  at  Middleport,  county  seat 
of  Iroquois  county;  thence  through  Milford,  and  slept  at 
Bartholomew's  tavern. 

September  26th.  Reached  Danville  where  we  dined  and 
found  but  two  Catholic  families.  After  dinner  started  for 
Paris  where  we  arrived  at  10  o'clock  p.  m.,  having  this  day 
travelled  72  miles  through  prairies. 

October  llth.  Said  Mass  and  left  with  a  troop  of  horse- 
men for  Taylorsville ;  stopped  at  Ewington,  county-seat  of 
Effingham.  The  people  agreed  to  buy  a  lot  and  promised  to 
build  a  church  on  it.  Passed  through  Shelbyville,  but  one 
Catholic  there  from  Lorraine.  Slept  at  a  farm-house  six 
miles  further  on. 


7  At  the  time  of  Bishop  Quarter's  death  not  a  single  railroad 
led  out  of  Chicago.  The  first  railroad  to  connect  the  city  with 
outside  points,  the  Galena  and  Chicago  Union,  the  germ  of  the 
present  Northwestern  System,  was  built  in  the  fall  of  1848.  In 
the  following  spring  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  made  the  trip  from 
St.  Louis  to  Chicago  by  river-packet  and  stage  to  be  installed  in 
his  episcopal  see. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  145 

October  14th.  Sunday.  [Springfield.]  Said  first  Mass 
and  preached  at  the  last;  no  choir  now,  no  first  Communion 
nor  Confirmations;  the  children  not  being  sufficiently  in- 
structed. No  Vespers,  no  evening  service,  and  this  is  the 
Capital  of  the  State!  Low  frame  church,  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, 60  by  27.  Spent  the  whole  evening  and  part  of  the  next 
morning  hearing  the  confessions  of  the  Germans. 

October  15th.  At  9  o'clock  said  Mass  for  the  Germans. 
Forty  of  them  received  communion,  most  of  whom  for  want 
of  a  German  priest  had  not  approached  the  Sacrament  for  the 
last  four  years. 

[1850]  June  16th.  Fourth  Sunday  after  Pentecost.  Said 
Mass  in  the  unfinished  church  of  Mt.  Sterling;  immense  crowd 
of  people,  chiefly  Protestants.  Confirmation  to  thirty-five 
persons;  could  find  no  dinner  in  town.  In  the  evening  left 
for  Mr.  Doyle's  (on  the  way  to  Quincy)  where  we  spent  the 
night. 

[1851]  November  10th.  Left  McHenry  for  Marengo, 
and  there  took  the  stage  for  Galena;  overset  and  was  near 
being  killed. 

[1853]  July  14th.  Visited  Pittsfield  with  Rev.  James 
Dempsey  of  Quincy,  after  dinner  went  and  took  steam-boat 
at  Florence  for  Calhoun. 

July  15th.  During  the  night  landed  amid  thunder,  rain 
and  vivid  lightning,  at  Lejarlier  thoroughly  wet  and  covered 
with  mud;  staid  [sic]  till  noon  and  set  out  for  Mr.  McDonald's 
in  a  rough  wagon  without  springs,  over  stones  and  gullies; 
after  dinner  (16th)  left  McDonald's  for  the  church  in  a  rough 
wagon.  Found  Father  Verreydt  at  the  church,  slept  about 
four  miles  from  it  on  the  road." 

To  the  four  churches,  St.  Mary's,  St.  Patrick's,  St.  Church  of 
Joseph's,  and  St.  Peter's  and  the  chapel  of  the  Holy 
Name  in  which  the  Catholics  of  Chicago  were  worshiping 
when  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  arrived  among  them,  others 
were  added  during  the  period  of  his  episcopate.  At  the 
corner  of  Cass  and  Superior  Streets,  this  being  the 
southeastern  extremity  of  the  grounds  of  the  University 


140  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake,  a  small  frame  church  of  the 
Holy  Name  was  commenced  by  Father  William  J.  Kin- 
sella  in  1848  and  opened  for  services  November  18,  1849. 
As  the  building  soon  proved  inadequate  to  hold  the 
growing  number  of  North-side  Catholics,  a  second 
church  was  built  by  Father  Kinsella  in  1851  on  State 
Street  between  Superior  and  Huron.  Though  enlarged 
in  1852,  the  second  church  of  the  Holy  Name  was,  like 
its  predecessor,  very  shortly  found  to  be  unequal  to  the 
needs  of  the  parish,  which  comprised  all  the  English- 
speaking  Catholics  of  the  North  Side.  Accordingly,  on 
August  3,  1853,  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  a  new  and  spacious  edifice  of  brick  on  ground 
at  the  south-east  corner  of  State  and  Superior  Streets. 
It  was  Gothic  in  style,  measured  84x190  feet  and  was 
to  cost  $100,000  when  completed.  Work  on  it  was  far 
enough  advanced  by  the  Christmas  of  1854  to  permit 
of  services  being  held  in  it  on  that  day.  This  noble 
structure,  one  of  Chicago's  earliest  monuments  of 
ecclesiastical  architecture,  was  swept  away  in  the  fire 
of  October,  1871.8 

st.  Michael's  Meanwhile,  the  German  Catholics  of  the  North  Side 
were  showing  an  increase  in  numbers  parallel  to  that 
of.  their  English-speaking  co-religionists.  In  1851  they 
numbered  sixty  families  and  their  church,  St.  Joseph's, 
at  the  north-east  corner  of  Chicago  Avenue  and  Cass 
Street,  no  longer  answered  to  their  needs.  As  immi- 
grants of  their  race  were  beginning  to  settle  thickly  in 
the  district  about  North  Avenue,  a  mile  above  St. 
Joseph's,  the  project  of  a  new  parish  on  their  behalf 
was  now  taken  up.  At  a  meeting  of  the  parishioners 


8  ANDREAS,  History  of  Chicago,  1 :  297. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  147 

of  St.  Joseph's,  June  20,  1852,  presided  over  by  the 
pastor,  Reverend  Anthony  Kopp,  steps  were  taken 
toward  the  organization  of  the  new  parish.  Michael 
Diversey,  one  of  the  most  well-to-do  of  the  attendants 
at  St.  Joseph's,  whose  name  is  perpetuated  in  one  of 
Chicago's  splendid  boulevards,  donated  a  lot  87y2xl30 
feet,  at  the  north-west  corner  of  North  Avenue  and 
Church  Street,  he  being  the  owner  of  fourteen  acres  of 
land  in  that  locality  The  sum  of  $750  having  been 
collected  from  the  members  of  the  new  parish,  a  church 
of  frame  was  erected  at  the  cost  of  $730  on  Mr.  Diver- 
sey's  lot  and  dedicated  by  Father  Kopp  under  the  title, 
St.  Michael's,  on  October  19,  1852.  Father  Kopp 
remained  temporary  pastor  of  the  church  until  the  ap- 
pointment in  November,  1852,  of  Father  August 
Kroemer.  A  school  was  opened  in  1853,  the  old  church 
being  used  for  school  purposes  after  the  erection  of  a 
new  brick  church  at  the  corner  of  Hurlburt  and  Eugenia 
Streets.  Among  the  donations  received  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  lot  on  which  to  build  a  presbytery  was  one 
of  $240  from  Cardinal  Eeisach  of  Munich.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1860,  St.  Michael's  parish  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  Redemptorist  Fathers.9 

In  1853  the  German   Catholics  of  the  West  Side,    Church  of 
numbering  about  fifty  families,  were  organized  into  a   0fAssisi 
parish.    A  church  for  their  use,  named  for  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi,  was  built  at  the  corner  of  Mather  and  Clinton 
Streets  and  dedicated  August  15  of  that  year  by  Bishop 
Van  de  Velde.    It  was  of  frame,  had  a  seating  capacity 
of  400  and  cost  some  $2,000.    Its  first  pastor  was  Father 
John  Bernard  A\Teikamp,  who  remained  in  charge  until 


ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  I:  275. 


1855.  In  1867  the  parish  built  a  spacious  church  of 
brick  on  West  Twelfth  Street  and  Newberry  Avenue. 
The  old  church  thereupon  began  under  the  title  of  St. 
Paul's  to  serve  the  needs  of  the  numerous  English- 
speaking  Catholics  resident  in  its  vicinity.10 

New  Late  in  1853  old  St.  Peter's  church  at  the  corner 

of  Washington  and  Wells  Streets  was  moved  to  the 
southwest  corner  of  Clark  and  Polk  Streets,  following 
the  parishioners  who  were  for  the  most  part  no  longer 
to  be  found  in  the  crowded  business  district  that  had 
grown  up  around  the  original  site.  The  first  Mass  in 


10  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1 :  297.  Father  Weikamp,  who  had  been 
pastor  of  the  old  St.  Peter's  during  the  period  1850-1853,  resigned 
this  post  owing  to  chronic  difficulties  with  his  trustees.  With 
means  which  he  had  in  part  brought  with  him  from  Europe  and 
in  part  collected  in  Chicago,  he  undertook  the  building  of  a 
church  and  community-house  for  a  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis, 
which  he  had  established  while  at  St.  Peter's.  The  church,  named 
for  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  was  built  at  Clinton  and  Mather  Streets. 
Retiring  hither  in  the  summer  of  1853  he  was  followed  by  a 
group  of  pious  souls  of  both  sexes,  who  chose  to  live  in  poverty, 
chastity  and  obedience  under  his  directions,  according  to  the 
spirit  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi.  With  permission  of  the  Bishop, 
Father  Weikamp  organized  a  German  parish  in  connection  with 
the  new  church,  which  was  to  be  without  trustees,  as  it  was  the 
property  of  the  religious  community  for  which  it  was  primarily 
built.  In  the  fall  of  1855  Father  Weikamp,  at  the  invitation  of 
Bishop  Baraga  of  Sault-Ste-Marie,  transferred  his  community  to 
the  Indian  Mission  of  Arbre  Croche  in  Michigan.  On  leaving 
Chicago  he  put  his  church  up  for  sale,  an  action  which  elicited 
protest  on  the  part  of  Bishop  O 'Began.  The  affair  was  subse- 
quently settled  by  correspondence  between  Bishops  O  'Regan  and 
Baraga,  and  in  January,  1857,  the  church  of  St.  Francis  was 
reopened  with  Father  Gaspar  H.  Ostlangenberg  as  pastor.  Illinois 
Catholic  Historical  Review,  3:57,  art.  Eeverend  Gaspar  Henry 
Ostlangenberg  by  Rev.  F.  G.  Holweck. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE 


149 


St'Pl 


Catholica 


St.  Peter's  after  its  removal  to  the  new  location  was 
celebrated  on  Christmas  Day,  1853,  by  the  pastor, 
Father  G.  W.  Plathe.  The  thirty  families  that  made  up 
the  parish  at  its  organization  in  1846  had  now  grown 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty.11 

A  new  site  was  also  found  in  this  same  year,  1853, 
for  St.  Patrick's  Church.  On  Trinity  Sunday,  May  22, 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  im- 
posing brick  edifice,  154x70,  which  the  congregation  had 
undertaken  to  build  at  the  north-west  corner  of  Des- 
plaines  and  Adams  Streets,  three  blocks  south  of  the 
original  church  site. 

The  French-speaking  element  that  made  up  the  ma-  French 
jority  of  Father  St.  Cyr's  parishioners  in  1833  was 
depleted  through  the  migration  westward  of  the  French 
mixed-bloods  and  their  Potawatomi  kinsfolk.  How 
radically  the  racial  complexion  of  St.  Mary  's  parish  had 
been  transformed  as  early  as  1837  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  the  petition  addressed  by  its  members  in  that 
year  to  Bishop  Rosati  to  retain  Father  St.  Cyr  contains 
only  six  or  eight  French  names,  the  remainder  of  the 
hundred  and  fifty  names  affixed  to  the  document  being 
Irish  with  but  few  exceptions.  But  in  the  'forties  and 
'fifties  a  new  French  element  was  substituted  for  the 
old  one  through  the  arrival  in  Chicago  of  numerous 
French-Canadians  who  came  to  settle  down  in  the 
thriving  young  metropolis.  The  first  priest  ordained  by 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde,  Father  Louis  Hoey,  the  ceremony 
taking  place  April  22,  1849,  was  immediately  assigned 
to  the  duty  of  looking  after  the  French-Canadians  in 
and  around  the  city.  By  November,  1850,  steps  were 


11  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1 :  294. 


150 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 


Church  of 
St.  Louis 


Parochial 
schools 


being  taken  to  provide  them  with  a  church  of  their  own, 
at  which  time  Father  Isidore  Lebel,  lately  arrived  from 
Canada,  was  assigned  to  care  for  them.  Bishop  Van  de 
Velde  notes  in  his  Diary  for  January  1,  1851,  that  High 
Mass  at  the  Cathedral  was  sung  by  Reverend  J.  A. 
Lebel,  "who  also  preached  in  French,  as  the  majority 
of  those  who  attended  were  French  and  Canadians.  The 
Mass  was  executed  by  the  French  choir  with  general 
satisfaction. '  '12 

In  the  course  of  1851  Father  Lebel  began  the  erection 
of  a  church,  under  the  invocation  of  St.  Louis,  on  the 
east  side  of  Clark  Street,  between  Jackson  and  Adams, 
on  ground  leased  from  Captain  Biglow,  where  now  the 
great  Federal  Building  rises  in  massive  grandeur.  The 
building,  a  low  frame  structure  25x75,  cost  $3,000,  two- 
thirds  of  which  sum  was  contributed  by  Mr.  P.  F. 
Rofinot,  one  of  the  parishioners.  In  1852  the  church 
was  renovated  and  in  the  words  of  a  press-notice  of  the 
day  ' '  decorated  interiorly  in  the  neatest  and  most  appro- 
priate manner  and  with  the  taste  and  artistic  effect 
which  are  natural  to  the  French."  It  was  blessed  by 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde  January  16,  1853.  A  few  years 
later  it  was  moved  from  the  leased  ground  on  which  it 
had  been  erected  to  the  corner  of  Polk  and  Sherman 
Streets.13 

Parochial  schools,  first  introduced  into  Chicago  by 
Bishop  Quarter,  increased  in  number  under  his  suc- 
cessor. The  boys'  and  girls'  schools  attached  to  St. 

12  Bishop  Van  de  Velde 's  Diary. 

13  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  had  a  fondness  for  giving  measure- 
ments of   churches  in  exact  figures.     His  report  in  the  Catholic 
Almanac  for  1853  gives  the  material  and  dimensions  of  practically 
every  church  in  the  diocese. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE   VELDE  151 

Mary's  Cathedral  were  the  earliest  of  their  kind.  The 
boys'  school  has  a  particularly  interesting  history.  We 
have  seen  above  that  ' '  St.  Mary 's  College, ' '  the  nucleus 
from  which  was  to  develop  the  future  University  of 
St.  Mary  of  the  Lake,  was  opened  in  the  old  St.  Mary's 
Church,  June  3,  1844,  by  Bishop  Quarter  only  a  month 
later  than  his  arrival  in  the  city.  In  1846  the  new 
University  buildings  were  occupied  and  the  old  church 
building  was  thereupon  vacated.  In  1848  there  was 
opened  in  the  latter  St.  Joseph's  Academy  for  boys 
under  the  direction  and  superintendence  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  Professors  of  the  University.  Boys  whose 
circumstances  would  otherwise  prevent  them  from  ob- 
taining a  "high-school"  education  were  here  to  receive 
"an  opportunity  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  various 
business  departments  of  life."14  John  A.  Hampston, 
a  seminarian  was  prefect  and  manager  of  the  Academy, 
which  was  also  intended  to  serve  as  a  preparatory  school 
for  the  undergraduate  course  of  the  University.  In  1851 
the  institution  appears  as  St.  Joseph's  Free  School  for 
Boys  with  upwards  of  forty  pupils  in  attendance. 
; '  This  school  is  kept  in  South  Chicago  near  the  Bishop 's 
residence  and  is  taught  by  two  young  men  daily  sent 
from  the  University."15  In  1854  the  parochial  char- 
acter of  the  school  was  fully  recognized.  "St.  Joseph's 
Free  School  for  Boys  is  kept  in  an  old  frame  building 
(formerly  the  only  church  in  Chicago)  in  the  rear  of 
the  lot  on  which  the  Bishop  has  hitherto  resided.  It 
belongs  to  the  Cathedral  parish  as  also  St.  Mary's  Free 


14  Metropolitan  Catholic  Almanac,  1849,  p.  135. 

15  Id.,  1851,  p.  154. 


152  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

School  for  Girls,  kept  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  the 
rear  of  the  Cathedral."16 

St.  Mary's  parish  school  for  girls  dated  from  about 
November,  1847,  when  a  portion  of  the  old  church  built 
by  Father  St.  Cyr  was  detached  and  moved  to  the 
south  side  of  Madison  Street  west  of  Wabash  Avenue 
and  in  the  immediate  rear  of  the  new  St.  Mary's. 
Known  first  as  St.  Mary's  Second  Day  School  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  select  First  Day  School  attached  to 
the  Boarding  Academy' of  St.  Xavier,  St.  Mary's  Free 
School  for  Girls  numbered  in  1848  as  many  as  148 
pupils.  It  shares  with  St.  Mary's  parish  school  for 
boys  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  in  historical  suc- 
cession of  the  long  and  splendid  line  of  parochial 
schools  which  the  sacrifices  of  Catholic  clergy  and  laity 
through  seventy  years  have  built  up  in  the  metropolis 
of  Illinois. 

The  third  parochial  school  was  the  one  opened  in 
1850  for  the  children  of  the  Holy  Name  parish  in  a 
rented  frame  house  adjoining  St.  Mary's  Female  Or- 
phan Asylum  on  North  Clark  Street.  Instruction  was 
given  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  the  teachers  residing  at 
the  Asylum  and  later  at  the  Motherhouse  on  Wabash 
Avenue.  In  the  first  year  of  the  school,  which  was 
named  St.  James'  Free  School,  the  teachers  numbered 
three  and  the  pupils  one  hundred  and  thirty.  Both 
boys  and  girls  were  apparently  in  attendance,  but  in 
1854  the  two  departments  were  conducted  separately. 
"North  Chicago — Boys'  Free  Scliool  of  the  Holy  Name 
is  kept  on  the  lot  owned  by  the  Bishop,  opposite  the 
University,  and  is  under  the  care  of  the  priests  of  the 


16  Id.,  1854,  p.  158. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  153 

parish.  St.  James'  Free  School  for  Girls  also  belongs 
to  the  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Name  and  is  kept  in 
a  frame  building  rented  for  the  purpose  on  North  Clark 
Street.  It  is  taught  by  three  Sisters  of  Mercy,  who 
reside  on  the  North  Side."17 

The  last  year  of  Bishop  Van  de  Velde's  residence 
in  Chicago,  1853,  saw  the  number  of  free  or  parochial 
schools  grow  to  the  considerable  total  of  twelve.  St. 
Patrick's  Free  School  for  Boys  had  been  started  at 
Desplaines  and  Adams  Streets  alongside  the  new  church 
then  in  process  of  construction,  while  a  Girls'  School 
was  about  to  be  opened  on  property  adjoining  the  old 
church  site  on  Desplaines  near  Randolph.  The  French 
parish  of  St.  Louis  had  its  school  in  the  old  St.  Peter's 
school-house  after  the  erection  in  1853  of  the  new 
St.  Peter's  at  Clark  and  Polk.  Nor  were  the  German 
parishes  behind-hand  in  providing  educational  facilities 
for  their  children.  At  the  beginning  of  1854  schools, 
"partly  free  and  partly  paying"  were  attached  to 
St.  Peter's  on  the  South  Side,  to  St.  Joseph's  and  St. 
Michael's  on  the  North  Side  and  to  St.  Francis'  on  the 
West  Side.18  The  schools  of  the  parish  of  St.  Francis 
were  taught  by  "Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  Third  Or- 
der of  St.  Francis  who  live  in  separate  communities  near 
the  church."10  The  only  parish  school  in  the  diocese 
outside  of  Chicago  at  this  period  appears  to  have  been 


"  Id.,  1854,  p.  158. 

18  John  Kribler  was  the  first  teacher  of  St.  Peter's  School  and 
Joseph  Stommel  of  St.  Joseph 's  School.  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1 : 
294,  295. 

10  Metropolitan  Catholic  Almanac,  1854,  p.  159.  See  note  10, 
supra. 


154  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

the  one  opened  in  1853  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  St. 
Mary's  parish,  Galena.20 

Orphan  During   the   summer   and   early   autumn   following 

Bishop  Van  de  Velde's  arrival  in  Chicago  the  dread 
Asiatic  Cholera  was  daily  taking  toll  of  its  people  and 
an  ever-increasing  number  of  Catholic  orphans  and 
half-orphans  were  being  left  to  the  charity  of  the 
diocese.  To  provide  a  refuge  for  these  destintute  chil- 
dren became  the  need  of  the  moment,  which  the  Bishop 
set  himself  promptly  to  relieve.  Pending  the  time  when 
a  common  home  could  be  provided  on  their  behalf,  a 
number  of  orphan  boys  were  lodged  in  a  house  on  the 
Bishop's  premises,  while  the  girls  were  boarded  with 
private  families  at  the  Bishop's  expense.21  On  Sunday, 
August  5,  1849,  the  latter  announced  to  the  congrega- 
tion of  St.  Mary's  Cathedral  that  he  had  rented  a 
house  for  the  use  of  the  orphans.22  On  August  16, 
Sister  Vincent  McGirr  and  three  other  Sisters  from 
the  Chicago  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  to  whose 
management  the  new  institution  was  to  be  entrusted, 
moved  into  the  "Female  Orphan  Asylum"  on  Wabash 
Avenue.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Catholic  clergy  of  Chicago, 


-°  At  least  no  other  parochial  schools  outside  of  Chicago  are 
listed  in  the  Catholic  Almanac  for  these  years. 

21  Metropolitan  Catholic  Almanac,  1850.  Between  July  25  and 
August  28,  1849,  1000  cases  of  cholera  with  314  deaths  were 
reported  in  Chicago.  The  cholera  raged  at  the  same  time  in 
St.  Louis,  leaving  in  its  wake,  as  in  Chicago,  a  large  number  of 
Catholic  orphans,  to  provide  for  whom  St.  Vincent's  German 
Catholic  Orphan  Asylum  was  established. 

-  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  's  Diary.  According  to  Andreas,  op. 
cit.,  279,  the  Cumberland  House,  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Wabash  Avenue  and  Van  Buren  Street,  was  rented  for  the  use  of 
the  orphans. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  155 

held  September  11,  plans  were  formulated  for  the 
financing  of  the  Asylum.  The  management  of  the  affair 
was  left  to  the  Bishop,  who  was  to  appoint  committees 
of  priests  and  lay-people  to  undertake  the  collection  of 
the  necessary  funds  among  the  parishes;  and  the  re- 
sults attained  at  the  clerical  gathering  were  com- 
municated on  the  following  day  to  the  Catholic  laity 
at  a  meeting  of  that  body.  On  this  occasion  or  some- 
what later  was  organized  the  Orphan  Asylum  Associa- 
tion, the  members  of  which  were  assessed  the  very 
modest  sum  of  twelve  and  one-half  cents  monthly. 

Having  in  September,  1850,  purchased  three  forty- 
foot  lots  on  the  west  side  of  Wabash  Avenue  between 
Jackson  and  Van  Buren  Streets,  Bishop  Van  de  Velde 
immediately  signed  a  contract  with  Peter  Page,  for  the 
erection  thereon  at  a  cost  of  $4000  of  a  three-story 
building  of  brick  with  stone-foundation,  fifty  feet  front 
by  forty  in  depth.  Augustine  D.  Taylor,  the  builder  of 
Chicago's  first  Catholic  churches,  received  the  contract 
for  the  wood- work.23  "The  Bishop  has  appropriated  to 
it  all  the  monies  he  has  on  hand  and  all  he  expects 
to  receive  before  the  end  of  the  year,  amounting  to 
almost  $2500,  and  relies  upon  Providence  for  the  balance 
of  $1500,  which  is  to  be  paid  on  the  first  day  of  next 
January.  This  building,  however,  will  afford  shelter 
only  to  the  female  orphans;  the  boys  will  have  to 
remain  in  a  small  rented  frame  building  until  the  Bishop 
shall  be  able  to  obtain  means  to  build  two  orphan 
asylums. ' ' 

The  cost  of  the  new  building,  surprisingly  low  if 
measured  by  present-day  standards,  was  not  easily  met. 


McGovERN,  The  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago,  p.  129. 


156  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Fairs  held  at  the  City  Hall  netted  $1100,  while  the 
Bishop  contributed  $1400.  The  remaining  $1500  were 
to  be  obtained  through  subscriptions  solicited  by  a  com- 
mittee of  Catholic  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  city.  ' '  On 
February  16,  1851,  the  orphans  having  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  New  Asylum,  a  donation  party  was  given, 
though  the  weather  was  unfavorable.  Several  people 
attended  and  about  $100  was  obtained  in  cash,  besides 
flour,  groceries  and  some  dry  goods."  (Bishop  Van 
de  Velde's  Diary.} 

The  report  of  the  Orphan  Asylum  issued  in  Janu- 
ary, 1853,  notes  that  almost  three  years  and  a  half  had 
passed  since  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  first  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  care  of  the  Catholic  orphans  left  in  the 
wake  of  the  great  cholera  visitation  of  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1849.  During  1852  eighty-two  children  had 
been  maintained  in  the  two  departments  of  the  Asylum 
at  a  cost  of  only  $32  per  child,  thanks  to  the  rigid 
economies  practiced  by  the  good  Sisters  in  charge  who, 
moreover,  contributed  their  services  gratis  to  this  work 
of  mercy.  The  three-story  brick  building  erected  in  1850 
was  reserved  at  this  time  to  the  boys,  while  the  girls 
occupied  a  frame  house  standing  on  one  of  the  two 
lots  on  "VVabash  Avenue  purchased  by  the  Bishop. 
"From  the  financial  report  it  will  appear  that  neither 
of  the  asylums  has  any  permanent  fund  or  revenue, 
and  that  for  the  support  of  the  children  we  are  entirely 
dependent  on  Divine  Providence,  and  upon  the  charity 
of  our  benevolent  citizens.  Stern  necessity  compels  us 
to  have  recourse  to  fairs  and  tea-parties,  which  would 
not  be  the  case  if  sufficient  means  for  their  support 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  157 

could  be  procured  through  other  channels."24  Before 
the  end  of  1853,  a  brick  building  for  the  girls  to  cost 
$8000  had  been  commenced.  Sisters  and  orphans  in 
1849  numbered  5  and  125  respectively,  and  in  1863, 
16  and  200  respectively.  In  the  last  named  year  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy  relinquished  charge  of  the  Asylum  into 
the  hands  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph. 

The  heroic  services  rendered  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy 
in  the  cholera  visitations  of  1849  and  1854  did  not 
escape  public  notice  and  appreciation.  Speaking  of  the 
former  the  standard  history  of  Chicago  notes  that  "a 
few  physicians  and  (as  a  rule  in  such  calamities)  some 
Catholic  priests  and  Sisters  of  Charity  remained  to 
care  for  those  who  otherwise  would  have  been  thrown 
upon  the  streets  or  be  placed  under  the  guardianship 
of  the  public  authorities."2415  In  the  epidemic  of  1854, 
at  the  crisis  of  which  the  deaths  averaged  sixty  daily, 
Sister  Mary  Agatha,  Superioress  of  the  Chicago  com- 
munity of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  having  contracted  the 


24  McGovEfiN,  op.  cit.,  p.  172.  Eeport  of  the  Orphan  Asylums 
Under  the  Care  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  Chicago,  Illinois  (Janu- 
ary, 1853).  "The  lots,  110  by  180  on  Wabash  Avenue,  where  the 
two  Orphan  Asylums  are  kept  and  the  new  three-story  house  at 
present  occupied  by  the  male  orphans,  was  built  chiefly  at  the 
Bishop's  expense,  aided  by  a  collection  made  for  the  purpose  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  by  the  charitable  contribution  made 
by  some  of  our  citizens.  The  frame  house,  at  present  occupied  by 
the  female  children,  stands  on  one  of  the  lots  bought  by  the 
Bishop  and  is  much  too  small  and  too  incommodious  for  the 
purpose  for  which  it  is  used.  It  was  the  Bishop's  intention  to 
erect  a  building  for  them  equal  in  size  and  dimensions  to  the 
one  occupied  by  the  male  orphans."  ' 

24b  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1 :  596. 


158  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

disease  on  a  visit  to  a  destitute  sick  family,  succumbed 
to  it,  a  martyr  of  charity. 

Mercy  With  the  beginnings  of  Mercy  Hospital  in  Chicago 

the  name  of  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  stands  in  intimate 
connection.  Before  him  Bishop  Quarter  had  cherished 
the  project  of  a  Catholic  hospital  in  the  chief  city  of 
his  diocese,  but  his  untimely  death  intervened  before 
the  project  could  be  realized.  To  his  successor  was  to 
come  the  opportunity  to  inaugurate  this  great  work  of 
Christian  charity.  Already  in  September,  1850,  Bishop 
Van  de  Velde  had  announced  his  intention  of  building 
a  hospital,  though  "such  was  the  destitution  of  the 
Catholics  of  the  city  that  he  must  almost  exclusively 
depend  upon  Providence  for  the  means  of  erecting  it. '  '25 
As  a  preliminary  step  to  the  venture,  application 
was  made  at  Springfield  for  a  charter  of  incorporation 
of  Mercy  Hospital,  which  was  issued  in  1852.  Mean- 
time, pending  the  erection  of  a  building  of  their 
own,  opportunity  was  afforded  the  Sisters  of  Mercy 
to  engage  without  further  delay  in  the  hospital 
service  they  so  eagerly  desired.  Late  in  1850  the 
trustees  of  the  Illinois  General  Hospital  of  the  Lake,  a 
private  non-denominational  institution  chartered  in 
1849,  were  soliciting  from  the  public  subscriptions  to 
the  aggregate  amount  of  $5000,  which  modest  sum  was 
deemed  sufficient  to  place  the  hospital  on  an  operative 
basis.  Moreover,  they  announced  a  course  of  paid 
lectures  of  a  popular  character  by  Dr.  Nathan  Smith 
Davis,  the  proceeds  to  go  to  the  support  of  the  new 
hospital.  This  was  opened  November  23,  1850,  in  the 
old  Lake  House,  a  three-story  brick  building  at  the 


25  McGovERN,  op.  cit.,  p.  129. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  159 

corner  of  Michigan  and  Rush  Streets  erected  in  1835 
at  a  reputed  cost  of  $100,000.  The  capacity  of  the 
hospital  at  its  opening  was  only  twelve  beds,  the 
patients  being  charged  at  the  nominal  rate  of  $2  or  $3 
a  week.26  In  February,  1851  the  management  of  the 
hospital  was  assumed  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  as  Bishop 
Van  de  Velde  notes  in  his  Diary. 

"1851  Feb.  23d,  Washington's  Birthday.  Just  received 
the  news  from  Springfield  that  the  act  had  passed  to  incor- 
porate the  Mercy  Hospital  and  the  Mercy  Orphan  Asylum. 
Four  Sisters  of  Mercy  were  sent  to  take  charge  of  the  tem- 
porary hospital  opened  at  the  Lake  House.  [Act  did  not 
pass  the  Lower  House.] 

27th.  Articles  of  agreement  drawn  up  and  signed  with 
respect  to  the  services  of  the  Sisters  at  the  Lake  House  Hos- 
pital, and  the  arrangements  for  erecting  a  Hospital  under  our 
new  charter  at  some  future  period,  to  be  commenced,  if  pos- 
sible, this  year."  27 

It  Was  not  until  1853  that  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  were 
enabled  to  establish  a  hospital  under  their  own  auspices. 
Withdrawing  in  June  of  that  year  from  the  Illinois 
General  Hospital  of  the  Lake,  which  was  thereupon 
discontinued,  they  attended  for  a  while  the  patients  in 
the  County  Hospital  in  Tippecanoe  Hall  at  the  south- 


26  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  1:  578. 

27  McGovERN,   op.   cit.,  p.   144.     The   Hospital   cared   for   220 
patients   during  the  year  February  20,   1851-February  20,   1852. 
The  Metropolitan  Catholic  Almanac  for  the  years  1852,  1853,  con- 
tinues to  give  the  Lake  House  as  the  quarters  of  Mercy  Hospital. 
According  to  Bishop  Van  de  Velde 's  Diary  the  Orphan  Asylum 
building  on  Wabash  Avenue  was   first   occupied  by  Mercy  Hos- 
pital in  October,  1853.     That  the  Hospital  was  moved  from  the 
Lake  House  as  late  as  June,  1853,  is  stated  by  Andreas. 


160  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

east  corner  of  State  and  Kinzie  Streets  and  then  opened 
Mercy  Hospital  in  the  recently  erected  building  of  St. 
Mary's  Female  Orphan  Asylum  on  Wabash  Avenue, 
between  Jackson  and  Van  Buren.  Here  Mercy  Hos- 
pital remained  until  1863,  when  new  quarters  were 
found  for  it  in  the  St.  Agatha's  Academy  building 
at  the  northwest  corner  of  Calumet  Avenue  and  Twenty- 
Sixth  Street. 

Between  the  Easter  of  1853  and  his  departure  from 
Chicago  for  Natchez  the  following  November,  Bishop 
Van  de  Velde  visited  nearly  every  Catholic  congregation 
and  settlement  in  the  state,  travelling  during  that  period 
over  six  thousand  miles  and  administering  Confirmation 
to  nearly  thirty-six  hundred  persons  in  fifty-eight  differ- 
ent localities.  While  he  occupied  the  See  of  Chicago, 
seventy  churches  were  commenced  in  different  localities 
of  the  diocese,  of  which  number  sixty  were  either  en- 
tirely finished  or  so  far  finished  as  to  be  in  use  for 
divine  service.  Fifty-three  were  built  in  places  where 
before  there  had  been  no  church  at  all  and  seventeen 
in  places  where  old  and  small  chapels  were  replaced  by 
more  pretentious  structures.  Of  the  eighteen  churches 
in  course  of  erection  in  the  fall  of  1853,  thirteen  were 
being  built  of  brick,  all  of  the  edifices  being  of  very 
respectable  size  and  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  long  and 
sixty  feet  wide.  Besides  these  churches,  all  begun  under 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde,  eleven  others  that  had  been  begun 
before  his  accession  were  brought  to  completion  under 
him  and  by  his  exertions.  The  entire  number  of 
churches  left  by  him  in  Illinois  was  one  hundred  and 
nineteen.28 

-s  Western  Tablet,  October,  1853.    A  count  of  the  priests  of 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  161 

Bishop  Van  de  Velde  had  occupied  the  see  of  Chi- 
cago but  a  brief  span  of  four  years  and  a  half  when  at 
his  own  request  he  was  transferred  to  the  see  of  Natchez. 
It  was  with  extreme  reluctance,  and  only  after  being 
assured  that  the  appointment  could  not  be  conscien- 
tiously refused  that  he  had  consented  to  shoulder  the 
burden  of  the  episcopate.  As  soon  as  free  communica- 
tion with  the  Holy  See  was  re-established  after  the 
revolutionary  disorders  of  1848,  he  wrote  to  the  Holy 
See  tendering  his  resignation  on  the  plea  of  his  ad- 
vancing years,  the  feeble  state  of  his  health  which  was 
sorely  tried  by  the  severities  of  the  northern  climate  in 
which  he  was  compelled  to  reside,  and  his  very  earnest 
desire  to  assume  again  the  simple  life  of  a  Jesuit.  No 
action  was  taken  by  the  Holy  See  on  his  petition  other 
than  to  encourage  him,  through  Cardinal  Fransoni, 
Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  to  bear  his  burden  with 
patience  and  resignation.  Having  later  become  involved 
in  difficulties  with  a  few  of  his  clergy  over  the  title  to 
certain  pieces  of  ecclesiastical  property,  which  they 
were  retaining  in  their  own  name,  he  wrote  again  to 
Rome,  adding  this  to  the  reasons  he  had  previously 
urged  in  favor  of  his  resignation.  He  was  answered  that 
his  petition  would  be  submitted  to  the  prelates  of  the 
First  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore,  which  was  to  con- 
vene in  the  Spring  of  1852.  The  Council  declined  to 
accept  the  Bishop's  resignation,  though,  with  a  view  to 
relieving  him  of  a  part  of  the  extensive  territory  en- 


the  Chicago  diocese  according  to  birthplace  for  the  last  rear  of 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde 's  administration  gave  the  following  inter- 
esting figures :  Ireland,  29 ;  Germany,  12 ;  Alsace-Loraine,  7 ; 
France,  3 ;  Scotland,  Switzerland,  Belgium,  Canada,  Italy,  2  each ; 
Spain,  United  States,  1  each. 


162  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

trusted  to  his  charge,  it  decided  to  recommend  to  the 
Holy  See  the  division  of  the  State  of  Illinois  into  two 
dioceses,  the  see  of  the  southern  portion  to  be  fixed  at 
Quincy.29 

As  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  had  purposed  visiting 
Europe  on  the  dissolution  of  the  Council,  the  prelates 
assembled  commissioned  him  to  bear  the  decrees  of 
the  Council  to  Pius  IX  in  Rome.  Here  he  personally 
urged  with  the  Holy  Father  the  acceptance  of  his  resig- 
nation or  at  least  his  appointment  as  Coadjutor  or 
Auxiliary  to  another  Bishop,  that  being  thus  relieved 
of  his  status  as  Ordinary  he  might  more  easily  secure 
his  readmission  into  the  Society  of  Jesus.30  The  Holy 
Father  after  consultation  with  the  Propaganda  declined 
to  accept  his  resignation  but  assured  him  at  a  second 
audience  that  he  would  make  arrangements  with  the 
Father  General  to  have  him  restored  to  the  Society  of 
Jesus  and  would  probably  transfer  him  to  another  see 
in  a  more  genial  climate.  A  few  days  later  Monsignor 
Barnabo,  Secretary  of  the  Propaganda,  informed  the 
Bishop  that  the  Holy  Father  had  refused  to  accept  his 
resignation,  but  would  insist  on  his  being  readmitted 
into  his  Order  even  as  titular  Bishop  and  would,  more- 


29  Bishop   Van   de   Velde 's   Autobiographical   Memoir    [Ms.]. 
St.  Louis  University  Archives. 

30  Archbishop  Kenrick  of  St.  Louis  desired  to  recommend  to 
the   Holy  See  the  appointment   of   Bishop   Van   de  Velde  as  his 
coadjutor  cum  jure  successions;  but  the  latter,  when  the  Arch- 
bishop   intimated   to   him   such   desire,   objected   strongly   on   the 
ground    that   he    would   be   thus    debarred    from    re-entering   the 
Society   of  Jesus.    Bishop   Van   de   Velde  communicated  this   in- 
formation to  Father  De  Smet  in  a  letter  written  to  the  latter  from 
Natchez. 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE 


163 


over,  transfer  him  to  another  see.31  He  declared  that 
this  decision  of  the  Pope  was  final  and  could  be  relied 
upon,  and  he  counselled  the  Bishop  to  take  his  choice 
of  one  of  the  new  American  dioceses  that  were  soon  to 
be  erected. 

Returning  from  Europe  late  in  1852,  Bishop  Van  Transfer  of 
de  Velde  arrived  in  Chicago  in  December  of  that  year. 
Fear  lest  his  nomination  to  one  of  the  new  American 
sees  might  cause  unpleasantness  led  him  to  write  to  the  to  Natchez 
Holy  See  shortly  after  his  return  suggesting  his  trans- 
fer to  the  see  of  Natchez  in  Mississippi,  which  had 
become  vacant  by  the  death  of  its  first  Bishop,  the 
Right  Rev.  J.  J.  Chanche.32  His  petition  was  granted. 
While  engaged  in  laying  the  corner-stone  of  a  church 
in  Carlyle,  Clinton  County,  word  reached  him  that  the 
Brief  appointing  him  to  the  see  of  Natchez  had  arrived 
in  St.  Louis.  By  the  same  mail  the  Very  Rev.  Joseph 
Melcher,  Vicar-General  of  St.  Louis,  received  a  Brief 
erecting  Quincy  into  an  episcopal  see  and  appointing 
him  its  first  Bishop  as  also  Administrator  of  Chicago 
pending  the  appointment  of  a  successor  to  Bishop  Van 
de  Velde.  Father  Melcher 's  refusal  to  accept  the  ap- 
pointment to  the  new  see  left  the  two  dioceses  of  Quincy 
and  Chicago  vacant  and  unprovided  for.  In  this  emerg- 
ency, Bishop  Van  de  Velde  was  requested  by  Archbishop 
Kenrick  of  St.  Louis,  Metropolitan  of  the  Ecclesiastical 
Province,  to  assume  temporary  administration  of  the 
two  dioceses.  This  he  did  until  by  appointment  of 


31  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  was  readmitted  into  the  Society  of 
Jesus  by  the  Father-General,  John  Eoothaan. 

32  The  diocese  of   Natchez   at  this  period  was  almost  if  not 
quite  the  most  inconsiderable  in  the  country,  numbering  only  nine 
priests,  who  attended  eleven  churches. 


164  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

Archbishop  Kenrick,  Bishop  Henni  of  Milwaukee  became 
administrator  of  Chicago,  while  the  Archbishop  of  St. 
Louis  took  over  himself  the  administration  of  the  diocese 
of  Quincy.  Free  now  to  withdraw  from  Chicago  to  his 
new  see,  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  took  leave  of  the  people 
whose  spiritual  destines  he  had  directed  during  the  pre- 
vious four  years  and  a  half.  In  a  farewell  address  deliv- 
ered at  the  end  of  High  Mass  at  St.  Mary 's  Cathedral  on 
Sunday,  October  30,  1853,  he  frankly  detailed  the  cir- 
cumstances that  had  influenced  him  to  petition  the 
Holy  See  to  be  relieved  of  his  duties  as  Bishop  of 
Chicago.  He  left  the  city  November  4  for  Natchez.33 


33  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  died  at  Natchez,  November  13,  1855. 
A  few  weeks  before  his  death  he  had  met  with  an  accident  which 
resulted  in  a  broken  leg;  and  while  in  this  crippled  condition 
contracted  yellow  fever,  which  was  epidemic  at  the  time.  Father 
Peter  Tschieder,  S.  J.,  subsequently  assistant-pastor  for  many 
years  of  the  Holy  Family  church,  Chicago,  who  attended  Bishop 
Van  de  Velde  in  his  last  days,  detailed  the  circumstances  of  the 
prelate's  death  in  letters  to  his  Superior,  Father  William  Stack 
Murphy,  S.  J.,  of  St.  Louis. 

' '  November,  1855.  Since  Friday  the  Bishop  has  the  yellow 
fever  and  humanly  speaking  there  is  no  hope  of  his  recovery. 
He  has  been  sinking  since  this  morning.  You  can  imagine  in 
what  position  I  am — the  young  clergyman  has  also  the  yellow 
fever.  Father  Grignon  is  still  at  Vixbourg  [Vicksburg]  though  1 
telegraphed  him  as  also  the  Archbishop  of  New  Orleans.  I  had 
the  painful  duty  of  informing  the  Bishop  of  his  critical  situation. 
In  the  beginning  he  would  scarcely  believe  it,  but  now  he  is 
perfectly  resigned.  He  made  his  confession  twice,  last  evening 
and  this  morning,  and  with  such  humility  that  I  was  over- 
powered and  could  scarcely  pronounce  the  formula  absolutionis  ; 
he  had  to  help  me  the  first  time.  This  afternoon  I  gave  him 
Extreme  Unction,  as  there  is  no  hope  of  his  receiving  the  Blessed 
Sacrament.  The  Bishop  is  perfectly  in  his  senses  and  answered 
himself  to  the  prayers.  From  time  to  time  I  say  some  prayers 


BISHOP  VAN  DE  VELDE  165 

In  the  departure  of  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  for  an- 
other field  of  labor  the  diocese  of  Chicago  lost  an  un- 
usually zealous  and  energetic  worker  in  the  vineyard  of 
the  Lord.  Scholarly  in  all  his  tastes  and  mental  habits, 
with  a  bent  to  studious  retirement  and  an  aversion  for 
the  publicity  attendant  on  the  conduct  of  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  he  did  not  permit  his  tendencies  in  this  regard 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  a  whole-souled  and  self -denying 
devotion  to  the  episcopal  tasks  that  fell  to  him  on 
every  side.  Though  beset  by  chronic  bodily  infirmities, 


with  him.  Happily  I  am  not  afraid  of  yellow  fever — our  Lord, 
who  put  me  in  this  painful  situation,  has  given  me  also  courage 
enough  to  keep  to  the  post  assigned  me.  Without  a  miraculous 
intervention  of  St.  Stanislaus,  to  whom  the  Bishop  made  a  No- 
vena,  he  cannot  possibly  recover." 

"November  13,  1855.  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  is  dead.  He 
expired  this  morning  at  7.  Two  gentlemen  watched  and  attended 
on  him.  At  2  o'clock  in  the  night  I  was  called — I  said  some 
prayers  with  the  Bishop  which  he  repeated — but  his  mind  was 
wandering — he  perceived  it  himself.  At  2%  violent  spasms  took 
him,  probably  the  effect  of  a  very  strong  medicine  which  he  had 
taken.  Immediately  he  lost  his  senses  and  I  gave  him  the  last 
absolution  and  plenary  indulgence.  I  began  the  recommendation 
of  the  soul.  He  was  enabled  to  receive  the  viaticum  which  I  could 
not  give  him  yesterday.  It  was  evidently  a  favor  obtained 
through  the  intercession  of  St.  Stanislaus.  He  had  made  a  novena 
to  the  Saint — had  several  times  expressed  the  wish  to  die  on  his 
feast.  Whilst  I  was  saying  Mass  at  5  for  him,  all  the  Sisters  and 
orphan  girls,  who  had  also  made  a  Novena  for  him,  received 
communion.  Father  Grignon  gave  him  the  Viaticum.  He  remained 
suffering  till  7  when  he  expired.  All  that  time  the  good  Catholics 
were  flocking  to  receive  his  last  blessing;  he  gave  it  with  full 
consciousness — he  spoke  even,  though  very  indistinctly.  The 
people  appeared  very  much  attached  to  him  and  the  Catholic 
gentlemen  showed  great  attention,  day  and  night — they  all  regret 
the  loss  of  their  good  Bishop." 


166  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

he  did  not  decline  the  duty  of  the  periodic  visitation 
of  his  state-wide  diocese,  with  its  rough,  unpleasant 
experiences  in  travelling,  but  performed  it  at  intervals 
with  unfailing  energy  and  zeal.  He  built  the  first 
Catholic  Orphan  Asylum  in  Chicago,  was  largely  in- 
strumental in  establishing  the  city's  first  Mercy  Hospital 
and  was  at  all  times  energetic  and  enterprising  in  pro- 
moting the  erection  of  new  churches  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  new  parishes  throughout  the  diocese.  ' '  He  never 
rested  from  his  labors,"  wrote  a  biographer,  "and, 
when  he  finally  departed  from  Chicago  for  Natchez, 
there  were  few  indeed  either  of  the  clergy  or  laity,  that 
did  not  sincerely  regret  the  loss  of  such  an  apostolic 
prelate  to  the  diocese  of  Chicago ;  that  there  should  have 
been  even  a  few  is  one  of  the  sad  evidences  of  human 
weakness  which  the  church  has  sometimes  had  occasion 
to  lament."34 


34  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  's  remains  lie  buried  in  the  cemetery 
of  the  Jesuit  Novitiate,  Florissant,  Missouri.  CLARK,  Deceased 
Bishops  of  the  United  States,  2 :  389. 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 


Rt.  Rev.  Anthony  O 'Regan,  third  bishop  of  Chicago,  1854- 
1858.  A  native  of  Ireland,  he  came  to  Chicago  from  Saint  Louis 
where  he  had  filled  with  distinction  the  office  of  President  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Carondelet.  Transferred  to  Dora  in 
partibus  infidelium  in  1858,  and  died  in  London  in  1866.  Painting 
by  Gregori  in  the  Bishops'  Gallery,  Notre  Dame  University. 


CHAPTER  VII 


BISHOP   0 'REGAN 


With  the  departure  of  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  for  Anthony 
Natchez,  the  duties  of  administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Third  Bishop 
Chicago,  at  first  taken  up  by  Bishop  Henni,  were  shortly  °f  Chicago, 
relinquished  by  him  into  the  hands  of  Reverend  James 
Duggan  of  St.  Louis,  who  continued  to  exercise  them 
until  the  arrival  in  Chicago  of  Bishop  0 'Regan. 
Anthony  0 'Regan,  born  in  Lavallevoe.  County  Mayo, 
Ireland,  in  1809,  was  educated  at  Maynooth  College  and 
immediately  after  his  ordination  to  the  priesthood  was 
appointed  by  Archbishop  McHale  of  Tuam  a  professor 
in  the  diocesan  College  of  St.  Jarlath.  Professor  for 
ten  years,  he  was  subsequently  for  a  period  of  five  years 
president  of  that  institution,  achieving  in  his  career  a?. 
educator  a  success  that  made  his  name  favorably  known 
even  in  ecclesiastical  circles  across  the  Atlantic.  At  the 
invitation  of  Archbishop  Kenrick  of  St.  Louis,  Father 
0 'Regan  assumed  in  1849  the  presidency  of  the  new 
Theological  Seminary  established  by  that  enterprising 
prelate  at  Carondelet  on  the  outskirts  of  St.  Louis. 
Here  he  won  high  opinions  on  all  sides  for  exemplary 
piety  of  life,  scholarship  and  efficiency  in  the  training 
of  young  men  for  the  priesthood.  Bishop  Van  de  Velde 
knew  him  intimately  and  proposed  to  the  other  Bishops 
of  the  ecclesiastical  province  of  St.  Louis  that  he  be 
recommended  to  the  Holy  See  for  the  see  of  Chicago, 

167 


168  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

made  vacant  by  the  transfer  of  Bishop  Van  de  Velde 
to  Natchez.  When  the  papal  documents  appointing  him 
to  this  dignity  came  into  his  hands,  he  respectfully 
returned  them  to  Rome,  alleging  his  unfitness  as  a  man 
of  bookish  and  retired  habits  for  the  strenuous  duties 
of  an  American  bishopric.  The  appointment  having 
been  sent  to  him  a  second  time,  with  a  mandate  from 
the  Holy  See  to  accept,  Father  0 'Regan  submitted  to 
consecration  which  he  received  in  the  Cathedral  in  St. 
Louis,  July  25,  1854,  at  the  hands  of  Archbishop  Ken- 
rick,  assisted  by  Bishops  Van  de  Velde,  Henni  and 
Loras..  Anxiety  _  over  the  grave  responsibilities  thus 
thrust  upon  him  induced  a  severe  spell  of  nervous 
debility  and  it  was  not  until  September  3  that  he  was 
installed  in  St.  Mary's  Cathedral,  Chicago. 

Though  lasting  scarcely  three  years,  Bishop 
0 'Regan's  residence  in  Chicago  saw  numerous  im- 
portant gains  for  Catholicity  in  the  city  and  in  the 
diocese  generally.  Under  him  were  taken  the  first  steps 
towards  the  organization  of  the  new  parish  of  St.  James. 
At  his  earnest  solicitation  the  Jesuits  established  them- 
selves in  the  city,  where  they  organized  the  parish  of 
the  Holy  Family,  which  in  a  few  years  counted  on  the 
roll-call  of  its  parishioners  probably  a  larger  number  of 
souls  than  any  other  English-speaking  parish  in  the 
United  States.  He  acquired  the  extensive  property  on 
which  was  laid  out  the  present  Calvary  Cemetery,  where 
after  the  lapse  of  over  sixty  years  interments  still  con- 
tinue to  be  made;  and  for  the  shabby  little  cottage  in 
which  Bishop  Quarter  and  Van  de  Velde  had  lodged, 
he  substituted  an  episcopal  residence  of  a  style  com- 
mensurate with  the  dignity  of  a  great  Catholic  diocese. 
Built  of  marble  and  brick  on  property  at  the  northwest 


BISHOP  o  'REGAN 


169 


corner  of  Michigan  Avenue  and  Madison  Street,  it  was 
finished  in  1856  and  was  reputed  in  its  day  one  of  the 
handsomest  residences  in  the  city. 

During  the  years  that  he  presided  over  the  diocesan  Jesuit 
seminary  of  Carondelet,  Bishop  0  'Regan  had  made 
acquaintance  with  the  Jesuits  of  St.  Louis.  From  Chi-  Chicago,  isse 
cago  he  endeavored  to  secure  their  services  in  some 
permanent  form  for  his  diocese.  Already  in  the  spring 
of  1856  Father  De  Smet,  the  noted  Indian  missionary, 
informed  a  correspondent  in  California,  "Bishop 
O  'Regan  offers  us  his  college,  with  two  churches.  But 
where  are  the  men?"  In  the  summer  of  that  same  year 
Father  Arnold  Damen,  pastor  of  the  Jesuit  church  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier  in  St.  Louis,  assisted  by  three  priests 
of  his  Order,  conducted  a  series  of  missions  or  spiritual 
revivals  in  Chicago  at  the  invitation  of  Bishop  0  'Regan. 
A  communication  under  date  of  August  26,  1856,  to  the 
St.  Louis  Leader  dwells  on  the  very  gratifying  results 
that  attended  the  efforts  of  the  missionaries.  The  cor- 
respondent was  Father  Matthew  Dillon,  pastor  of  the 
Holy  Name  Church  and  president  during  the  period 
January,  1855-August,  1856,  of  the  University  of  St. 
Mary  of  the  Lake. 

"The  spiritual  retreat  which  our  Right  Rev.  Bishop  has 
provided  for  the  Catholics  of  this  city  has  just  now  closed. 
For  the  last  three  weeks  the  exercises  have  been  conducted 
by  five  Jesuit  Fathers  under  the  guidance  of  Father  Damen. 
The  fruits  of  their  holy  and  successful  labors  are  already 
manifest.  Many  Protestants  have  embraced  the  Catholic  re- 
ligion, and  the  Catholics  —  to  be  counted  by  thousands  —  many, 
very  many  of  whom  had  for  years  neglected  their  spiritual 
interests,  crowded  the  churches  and  confessionals. 


170  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

The  zeal,  the  piety  and  labors  of  Father  Damen  and  his 
associates,  and  his  practical  and  persuasive  eloquence,  have 
won  for  these  eminent  servants  of  God  the  love  and  veneration 
of  all  our  citizens,  Protestant  and  Catholic.  From  four  in 
the  morning  until  after  midnight,  these  zealous  Fathers  and 
the  parochial  clergymen  have  been  occupied  with  the  duties 
of  religion,  yet  all  this  was  insufficient,  such  was  the  holy 
importunity  of  the  people  whom  God  moved  to  profit  by  their 
ministry. 

It  is  understood  that  twelve  thousand,  at  least,  have  re- 
ceived communion.  None  of  the  churches  could  accommodate 
the  multitude  that  crowded  from  all  parts  of  the  city.  The 
cathedral  with  its  galleries  newly  put  up,  being  found  alto- 
gether too  small,  the  mission  was  transferred  to  the  large 
enclosure  on  the  North  Side  known  as  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Name  and  here,  as  if  nothing  had  been  previously  done,  a  new 
harvest  is  found  already  mature. 

Years  of  spiritual  indolence  are  atoned  for  and  a  new 
life — the  life  of  grace — is  begun  by  hundreds  who  for  many 
long  years  knew  not  how  great  a  blessing  this  was.  How 
consoling  to  the  heart  of  the  Right  Reverend  Bishop  and  of 
the  missionaries  must  not  be  this  fruit  of  their  labors,  this 
fresh  evidence  of  the  vitality  of  the  Catholic  spirit,  which  it 
would  seem  neither  time  nor  circumstances  the  most  unfavor- 
able to  its  culture  can  root  out  of  the  soul  of  the  sincere 
believer. 

This  is  the  third  retreat  with  which,  within  the  brief 
period  of  five  months,  the  Catholics  of  Chicago  have  been 
blessed,  the  first  given  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Weninger,  and 
the  second  soon  after  by  the  Redemptorist  Father  Krutil. 
May  we  not  now  hope  that  henceforth  the  religious  progress 
of  our  city  will  keep  even  in  advance  of  its  astonishing  mate- 
rial prosperity? 

Concedat  Deus.     Amen.  M.  DILLON."  1 

With    the    results    of    Father    Damen 's    missionary 
appeals  in  Chicago  in  the  midsummer  of  1856  Bishop 

1  The  St.  Louis  Leader,  August  15,  1856. 


BISHOP  o 'REGAN 


171 


0 'Regan  declared  himself  to  be  highly  gratified  and  he   Bishop 

T  in  n     i        T-I      i        i  •        O'Regan 

accordingly  took  advantage  of  the  Father  s  presence  in  invitesthe 
the  city  to  renew  again  his  invitation  to  the  Jesuits  to  Jesuits  to 
establish  themselves  in  the  metropolis.  Father  Damen, 
having  previously  obtained  the  sanction  of  his  Superior 
in  St.  Louis  for  the  course  he  now  pursued,  showed 
himself  disposed  to  accept  the  invitation  and  began  at 
once  to  look  over  the  ground  to  determine  a  suitable 
location  for  a  new  parish.  Investigation  led  him.  to 
prefer  the  West  Side,  where  large  numbers  of  Irish 
Catholic  immigrants  were  settling  down.  A  few  weeks 
after  Father  Damen 's  return  to  St.  Louis,  he  received 
a  communication  from  Bishop  O'Regan. 

"Chicago,  Illinois,  September  15,  185G. 
To  Reverend  Father  Damen,  S.  J .,  St.  Louis: 

DEAR  FATHER  DAMEN — I  have  just  now  written  to  Father 
Provincial  and  I  want  you  to  assist  me  with  him  that  he  may 
grant  the  request  of  establishing  a  House  in  Chicago.  You 
know  its  necessity  and  the  prospects  before  it  and  hence  I 
have  referred  to  you  as  one  who  can  give  to  the  Provincial 
and  others  all  the  requisite  information  on  this  subject.  May 
I  beg  of  you  to  do  so?  You  could  not  co-operate  in  a  holier 
work.  You  would  be  a  most  efficient  instrument  to  build  up 
religion  in  this  city  and  diocese.  Land  can  be  had  quite  near 
to  the  locality  you  wished  for,  but  in  a  still  better  place,  at  a 
fair  price  and  in  large  quantities.  In  one  place  as  much  as 
six  acres  can  be  had.  By  buying  all  this,  you  would,  in  one 
year,  have  two  entirely  free.  The  increased  value  caused  by 
your  establishment  would  effect  this.  This  is  a  positive  fact. 

I  would  also  request  of  you  not  to  correspond  on  this 
matter  with  anyone  whatever  in  Chicago,  except  myself,  not 
even  with  those  who,  in  other  respects,  would  be  found  most 
trustworthy.  Already  Catholics  whom  you  regard  much  are 
actually  speculating  on  the  subject  and  if  they  knew  you  or 
I  had  a  preference  for  a  particular  place,  they  would  soon 
have  it  bought  up.  You  will  write  to  me  soon  again. 


172  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

I  am  sorry  that  I  did  not  merit  your  thanks  better  whilst 
you  were  in  Chicago.  I  can  never  sufficiently  express  my  es- 
teem for  you  and  your  worthy  Fathers. 

I  would  have  written  sooner  to  you  and  to  Father  Provin- 
cial, but  I  wished  to  know  more  about  the  land. 

With  kindest  regards  for  Father  De  Smet  and  the  earnest 
wish  of  seeing  you  soon  permanently  at  work  in  Chicago, 
where  you  are  most  ardently  expected,  I  am, 

Reverend  dear  Father  Damen,  very  truly  yours, 

ANTHONY, 
Bishop  of  Chicago  and  Administrator  of  Quincy."  2 

In  a  second  letter  which  Bishop  O 'Regan  wrote  to 
Father  Damen  a  few  weeks  later  he  expresses  again  his 
desire  to  see  the  Society  of  Jesus  established  in  Chicago. 

"I  know  I  cannot  do  a  better  work  for  religion,  for  the 
diocese  or  for  my  own  soul  than  by  establishing  here  a  house 
of  your  Society,  and  this  is  the  reason  I  have  been  so  very 
anxious  to  effect  this.  It  was  on  this  account  as  also  from 
my  personal  regard  and  affection  for  your  Institute  as  for 
many  of  your  Fathers  individually,  that  I  so  urgently  and 
perseveringly  tried  to  see  this  good  work  accomplished."  2 

Bishop  0 'Regan's  earnest  invitation  to  the  Jesuits 
of  St.  Louis  to  establish  themselves  in  Chicago  having 
been  definitely  accepted,  Father  Damen  acquired  in  the 
spring  of  1857  property  in  that  city  as  a  site  not  only 
for  the  imposing  house  of  worship  which  he  planned  to 
build,  but  also  for  a  future  college.  The  property  was 
located  on  the  West  Side  a  block  west  of  the  intersection 
of  Twelfth  Street  with  Hoosier,  or,  as  it  was  subse- 
quently called,  Blue  Island  Avenue,  and  consisted  of 
thirty-two  lots,  making  up  the  entire  block  between 
Twelfth,  May,  Eleventh  and  Austin  (Aberdeen)  Streets. 


St.  Louis  University  Archives. 


BISHOP  o  'REGAN  173 

March  10,  1857,  Father  Damen  wrote  to  his  Superior  in 
St.  Louis,  Father  John  Baptist  Druyts. 

"The  answer  from  Philadelphia  has  come  about  the  Bull's 
head  property.  They  will  sell  at  $600  a  lot,  which  would 
make  a  total  of  $24,600  [sic]  for  the  44  lots.  The  acre  which 
is  in  litigation  cannot  be  settled  yet.  With  this  acre  included, 
there  would  be  52  lots,  and  this  would  make  a  total  of  $31,- 
400  [sic].  Of  this  $2,500  would  be  paid  by  two  Protestant 
gentlemen  towards  the  improvement.  I  went  out  this  after- 
noon and  made  inquiries  about  the  number  of  Catholic  fami- 
lies in  the  neighborhood  and  I  could  not  find  a  dozen  around 
the  place.  •  I  therefore  concluded  that  the  place  should  be 
rejected  as  one  that  would  not  pay  us  for  the  sacrifices  we 
have  to  make.  Should  your  Reverence  think  differently,  tele- 
graph (buy  the  Bull's  head).  Bishop  still  continues  recom- 
mending this  place  and  says  that  we  will  regret  it;  but  I  can- 
not believe  that  informed  as  I  am  at  present  about  the  few 
Catholics  in  that  vicinity.  Moreover,  here  we  would  have  to 
put  up  $10,000  improvements  the  first  year;  that  is  a  part  of 
the  bargain.3 

Now  I  have  accepted  the  Southwest  Side,  three  acres  at 
$5,500  an  acre,  that  is  thirty-two  lots.  Here  we  will  have  a 
large  Catholic  population  at  once,  sufficient  to  fill  a  large 
church.  We  can  put  up  a  frame  church,  which  will  answer  the 
purpose  till  all  the  land  is  paid  off.  Then  it  will  answer  for 
a  school,  and  the  rest  of  the  land,  which  we  can  sell,  will  help 
us  to  build  the  college  and  the  new  church.  In  my  opinion, 
it  is  decidedly  the  only  place  we  can  take  here." 

Having  thus  determined  on  a  site  for  his  new  church, 
Father  Damen  returned  to  St.  Louis,  whence  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  advising  Bishop  0 'Regan  that  the  busi- 


3  The  Bull 's  Head  was  a  tavern  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
Madison  Street  and  Ogden  Avenue,  where  the  Washingtonian 
Home  stood  in  later  years.  It  was  built  in  1848  by  Matthew 
Laflin  and  owed  its  name  to  the  neighboring  cattle-yards,  the  first 
to  be  opened  in  Chicago. 


174  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

ness  just  concluded  by  him  in  Chicago  had  received  the 
indorsement  of  his  Superior.  Further  plans  for  the 
expansion  of  Catholicism  in  Chicago  were  now  communi- 
cated by  the  Bishop  to  Father  Damen. 

"Chicago,  Illinois,  MarcH  21,  1857. 
To  Reverend  A.  Damen : 

Reverend  Dear  Friend — I  have  received  your  note  with 
the  agreeable  news  that  Father  Druyts  has  confirmed  your  acts 
in  Chicago.  I  have  given  thanks  to  God  for  this  great  bless- 
ing and  I  pray  that  He  may  always  aid  with  His  abundant 
graces  the  holy  work.  I  would  strongly  impress  on  you  to 
come  as  soon  as  possible  after  Easter  to  collect  and  commence 
the  work.  This  can  now  be  more  effectually  done,  because 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy  have  given  up  the  project  of  building 
a  Hospital.  Moreover,  some  one  else  might  be  walking  over 
your  ground  unless  you  come  in  good  time.  I  would  at  once 
define  your  Parish,  announce  it,  and  you  would  attend  the  sick 
calls  from  my  house  and  have  the  emoluments  and  a  better 
claim  in  collecting. 

I  have  now  another  trouble  to  give  you.  It  is  this :  I 
want  to  bring  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  or  some  of 
them  to  Chicago  and  I  want  this  to  be  done  this  summer.  I 
will  give  all  the  patronage  in  my  power,  and  this  is  the  only 
aid  I  can  give.  But  at  present  this  patronage  is  money  or 
worth  it.  It  stands  thus : 

The  Sisters  of  Mercy  are  to  give  up  their  Boarding 
School  this  summer  and  to  convert  that  house  into  an  hos- 
pital. They  now  have  46  boarders  —  it  may  be  more.  All 
these  would  at  once  pass  into  the  school  of  the  Ladies  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  with  many  others,  I  am  sure.  In  order  to 
receive  them  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  a  house  built  and 
completed  at  farthest  on  the  middle  of  next  September.  This 
can  be  easily  done  by  a  community  able  to  raise  money,  as  I 
am  sure  The  Sacred  Heart  can.  I  consider  all  this  as  a  happy 
coincidence  and  as  the  voice  of  God  calling  to  us  at  one  time 
the  Jesuits  and  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

Do,  Dear  Father  and  Friend,  complete  the  good  work 
you  have  begun.  Use  all  your  influence  to  have  this  effected. 


BISHOP  o 'REGAN  175 

Now  is  the  fitting  time.  Property  can  be  conveniently  had  not 
far  from  your  church.  In  three  months,  a  house  can  be  fin- 
ished, and  when  opened,  it  will  be  filled.  It  will  be  a  transfer 
from  one  house  here  into  another. 

I  write  this  day  to  Madame  Galway,  and,  through  God 
and  his  Virgin  Mother,  I  implore  success  for  this  good  and 
holy  project.  I  depend  very  much  on  you.  Write  soon  and 
work  hard  for  the  Sacred  Heart's  sake. 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

ANTHONY,,  Bishop  of  Chicago." 

The  March  of  1857  had  thus  seen  Father  Damen  zoiy  Family 

f  •  i        •  •  ^  Church 

make  definite  choice  of  a  site  for  the  imposing  church 
edifice  which  he  planned  to  build.  May  4  following  he 
arrived  in  Chicago  from  St.  Louis  in  company  with 
Father  Charles  Truyens  to  take  the  work  definitely  in 
hand.  He  carried  with  him  a  memorandum  of  instruc- 
tions from  the  Vice-Provincial,  Father  Druyts,  which 
bespeak  the  high  religious  purpose  that  actuated  the 
promoters  of  this  apostolic  venture.  "Remember  why 
we  go  to  Chicago,  viz.  A.  M.  D.  G. — the  good  of  re- 
ligion, the  good  of  souls.  Let  us  then  have  the  best  of 
intentions  and  often  renew  them."4  Father  Damen  lost 
no  time  on  his  arrival  in  giving  out  contracts  for  the 
erection  of  a  temporary  frame  church,  a  two-story 
structure,  20  x  48,  with  "a  neat  balcony  erected  in 
front  of  first-story,"  to  be  delivered  on  or  before  July 
15,  1857.  July  12  the  church  was  solemnly  blessed 
under  the  title  of  the  Holy  Family  by  Bishop  Duggan 
of  St.  Louis.  Circumstances  had  brougdit  it  about  that 
Bishop  0 'Regan,  to  whose  efforts  were  primarily  due 
the  establishment  of  the  Jesuits  in  Chicago,  was  not  to 
preside  at  the  dedication  of  their  temporary  church. 


St.  Louis  University  Archives. 


176  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

At  the  dedicatory  services  the  sermon,  an  eloquent  one, 
was  preached  by  Bishop  Duggan. 

The  throng  of  worshippers  soon  taxed  the  little  house 
of  worship  beyond  capacity  and  an  addition  was  made  to 
it  in  August  to  be  followed  by  a  second  addition  in  the 
course  of  1858.  The  first  church  of  the  Holy  Family 
stood  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Eleventh  and  May 
Streets.  On  Sunday,  August  23,  1857,  Festival  of  the 
Most  Pure  Heart  of  Mary,  took  place,  with  the  Bishop, 
his  clergy  and  a  great  concourse  of  the  laity  in  attend- 
ance, the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  spacious  and 
permanent  edifice  of  brick.  The  Daily  Times  in  an- 
nouncing the  event  declared  that  "the  Reverend  gentle- 
men who  have  undertaken  this  enterprise  propose  to 
spend  $100,000  on  the  erection  of  a  temple  of  worship 
which  will  surpass  in  size  any  other  in  Chicago,  which 
sum  must  be  raised  principally  among  themselves  and 
also,  it  is  understood,  to  found  a  collegiate  institution 
with  funds  of  their  own,  which  it  is  anticipated  will 
eventually  rival  that  of  Georgetown,  District  of  Colum- 
bia." 

At  the  time  that  Father  Damen  began  his  work  in 
Chicago,  the  panic  of  1857  was  in  full  swing.  Lack  of 
money,  business  and  commercial  depression,  the  growing 
number  of  the  unemployed  and  a  general  air  of  rest- 
lessness and  discontent  on  all  hands  were  so  many 
circumstances  to  render  the  task  of  collecting  funds  for 
a  new  church  an  appalling  one  even  for  the  stoutest 
heart.  Yet  Father  Damen  attempted  the  task  and 
succeeded.  By  the  end  of  May,  1857,  the  subscriptions 
amounted  to  $30,000.  "I  get  along  pretty  well,"  he 
wrote  in  September  to  Father  Druyts,  "and  people  are 
astonished  that  I  can  get  money  at  all. ' ' 


BISHOP  o 'REGAN  177 

Work  on  the  new  church  went  steadily  forward.  Dedication  of 
Early  in  1860  contracts  were  let  to  Patrick  O'Connor  ^oiy Family 
for  the  towers  and  front  wall  of  the  church  and  to  Church 
Robert  Carse  for  the  stained-glass  windows,  "work  to 
be  equal  to  that  of  the  windows  in  St.  James'  church, 
North  Side."  Progress  in  bringing  the  great  structure 
forward  to  completion  was  now  so  rapid  as  to  permit  of 
the  solemn  dedication  in  the  midsummer  of  1860.  The 
ceremony  took  place  on  Sunday,  August  26,  Feast  of 
the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  a  day  in  the  church's 
calendar  dear  to  the  heart  of  Father  Damen,  and  was 
carried  out  with  a  degree  of  splendor  hitherto  quite 
unprecedented  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  Middle 
West.  Thirteen  members  of  the  hierarchy  were  in 
attendance,  Bishop  Duggan  being  the  officiating  prelate, 
Bishop  Fitzpatrick  of  Boston  celebrant  of  the  Pontifical 
Mass,  and  Archbishop  Kenrick  of  St.  Louis  the  preacher 
of  the  dedication  sermon,  while  in  the  progress  of  the 
ceremony  sermons  were  delivered  in  English  by  Bishop 
Carrell  of  Covington,  in  German  by  Bishop  Henni  of 
Milwaukee  and  in  French  by  Bishop  de  St.  Palais  of 
Vincennes.  Besides  the  prelates  named  there  were 
present  in  the  sanctuary  Bishops  Smyth  of  Dubuque, 
Juncker  of  Alton,  Grace  of  St.  Paul,  Whelan  of  Nash- 
ville, Lefevre  of  Detroit,  Luers  of  Fort  Wayne  and 
Timon  of  Buffalo.  Mozart's  Twelfth  Mass,  rendered 
under  the  personal  direction  of  Father  Maurice  Oakley, 
one  of  the  priests  serving  the  parish,  was  the  musical 
feature  of  the  occasion.  To  Father  Damen  perhaps  no 
day  in  all  his  career  was  quite  like  this  in  the  splendid 
tokens  of  success  with  which  it  crowned  his  labors  of  the 
preceding  three  years.  ' '  The  Reverend  Arnold  Damen, ' ' 
wrote  in  1866  James  W.  Sheahan  of  the  Chicago 


178  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Tribune,  "is  the  Hercules  who  has  in  a  few  years 
wrought  all  this  work.  To  his  energy,  his  ability,  his 
sanctity,  his  perseverance  and  his  great  practical  intel- 
ligence is  due  not  only  the  erection  of  this  magnificent 
edifice  but  the  great  spiritual  success  which  has  crowned 
the  labors  of  the  Society."5 

Resignation  Despite  the  purity  of  his  intentions  and  his  obvious 
o'Regan  zea^  ^ or  ^e  best  interests  of  the  diocese,  Bishop  0  'Regan 
was  not  to  escape  from  difficulties  that  detracted  much 
from  the  success  of  his  administration.  He  became 
involved  in  painful  difficulties  with  certain  influential 
members  of  the  clergy  attached  to  the  University  of  St. 
Mary  of  the  Lake,  while  the  Chiniquy  schism,  though 
substantially  healed  through  his  earnest  efforts,  de- 
pressed him  greatly  and  made  him  skeptical  of  his  future 
usefulness  to  the  diocese.  In  the  course  of  1857  he 
visited  Rome  where  he  made  earnest  petition  to  the  Holy 
See  to  be  relieved  of  his  charge.  While  in  Rome  he 
made  acquaintance  with  the  young  Chicagoan  John 
McMullen,  first  Bishop  of  Davenport  to  be,  then  a 
student  at  the  Propaganda.  To  McMullen  he  expressed 
the  high  hopes  he  entertained  for  the  future  of  the 
Chicago  diocese,  despite  the  ill-success  that  had  attended 
his  efforts  to  administer  it.  "I  see  no  reason,"  wrote 
the  seminarian  from  Rome  to  a  Chicago  correspondent 
in  1858,  "why  the  church  should  not  keep  up  with  the 
growth  of  Chicago.  The  Bishop  speaks  in  glowing  terms 
of  the  Catholic  people  and  how  well  they  assisted  him 
in  building  his  palatial  residence."6 


5  From  an  album  of  Chicago  views   (1830-1866)   with  letter- 
press by  James  W.  Sheahan. 

6  McGovERN,  Life  of  Bishop  McMullen,  Chicago,  1888,  p.  117. 


BISHOP  o 'REGAN  179 

The  Holy  See  having  accepted  Bishop  O 'Regan's  Death  of 
resignation,  he  was  made  titular  Bishop  of  Dora  in 
partibus  and  thereupon  retired  to  Michael's  Grove, 
Brompton,  London,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
days,  dying  November  13,  1866,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven. 
He  often  assisted  the  illustrious  Cardinal  Wiseman  in 
the  more  solemn  services  of  the  Church  and  was  visited 
in  his  last  illness  by  Doctor,  subsequently  Cardinal 
Manning.  Among  the  bequests  in  his  will  was  one  of 
two  thousand  pounds  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Missionary 
College  of  All  Hallows,  Dublin,  the  interest  of  which 
was  to  be  applied  to  the  education  of  priests  for  the 
dioceses  of  Chicago  and  Alton;  and  another  one  of  five 
hundred  pounds  towards  the  erection  of  a  Catholic 
hospital  in  Chicago.7 

Nature  had  not,  it  would  appear,  fitted  Bishop 
O 'Regan  to  the  task  of  taking  tactfully  in  hand  and 
administering  with  success  the  delicate  affairs  of  a 
young  and  unsettled  diocese  of  Western  America.  But 
as  an  ecclesiastic,  a  scholar,  and  a  director  of  young  men 
in  the  mental  and  moral  training  preparatory  to  the 
holy  priesthood,  his  reputation  ran  high  in  the  church 
circles  of  the  day  and  all  bore  testimony  to  the  rectitude 
of  his  intentions.  '  *  It  may  be  said  of  Bishop  0  'Regan, ' ' 
wrote  a  Chicago  ecclesiastic  whose  seminarian  days  were 
contemporary  with  the  Bishop's  episcopacy,  "that  he 
was  a  man  in  the  truest  sense,  single-minded,  firm  as  a 
rock  and  honest  as  gold.  A  lover  of  truth  and  justice, 
whom  no  self-interest  could  mislead  and  no  corruption 
contaminate,  he  held  fast  the  affection  of  many  and 
gained  the  full  respect  of  all."8 


7  CLARKE,  Deceased  Bishops  of  the  United  States,  3 :  169. 

8  McGovERK,  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago,  p.  195. 


CHAPTER  VII 


of  Chicago, 
1859-1868 


James  James  Duggan,  fourth  Bishop  of  Chicago,  was  born 

Fourth  Bishop  in  Maynooth,  County  Kildare,  Ireland,  on  May  22,  1825. 
As  one  of  a  number  of  young  Irish  ecclesiastics  who 
responded  to  a  call  for  recruits  sent  out  by  Archbishop 
Kenrick  of  St.  Louis  in  1842,  he  was  sent  to  complete 
his  theological  studies  at  St.  Vincent's,  Cape  Girardeau, 
where  he  was  ordained  a  priest  in  1847.  Assigned  to  the 
Cathedral  parish  in  St.  Louis,  he  soon  distinguished 
himself  by  his  zealous  discharge  of  the  ministery  and 
by  the  forceful  and  eloquent  quality  of  his  utterances 
in  the  pulpit.  During  the  vacancy  in  the.  see  of  Chicago 
following  upon  the  resignation  of  Bishop  Van  de  Velde, 
he  was  for  a  period  administrator  of  that  diocese  though 
still  a  simple  priest.  Having  been  appointed  by  the 
Holy  See  Bishop  of  Antigone  and  coadjutor  to  the 
Archbishop  of  St.  Louis,  he  was  consecrated  by  the 
Archbishop  of  St.  Louis,  assisted  by  Bishops  Henni  and 
0 'Regan.  Only  a  few  months  had  elapsed  since  his 
consecration  when  he  was  sent  by  Archbishop  Kenrick 
to  Chicago  to  act  as  administrator  there  after  the  with- 
drawal from  the  diocese  of  Bishop  O 'Regan.  On 
January  21,  1859,  he  received  from  the  Holy  See  letters 
transferring  him  to  the  see  of  Chicago  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday  he  was  installed  in  St.  Mary's  Cathe- 
dral.1 


SHEA,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States, 
180 


Rt.  Eev.  James  Duggan,  fourth  Bishop  of  Chicago,  1859-1870.  He 
was  a  native  of  Ireland  and  came  to  Chicago  from  Saint  Louis,  where  he 
had  been  consecrated  Coadjutor  to  Archbishop  Kenrick  in  1857.  Trans- 
ferred to  Chicago,  January  21,  1859,  and  retired  on  account  of  infirm 
health  in  1879.  Died  in  Saint  Louis,  March  27,  1899.  Painting  by  the 
distinguished  artist,  George  P.  A.  Healy,  in  the  Newberry  Library,  Chicago. 


THE  UBMW 
OF  THE 


C;  Sl 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  181 

With  the  advent  of  Bishop  Duggan  the  diocese  felt 
a  new  vitality  and  energy  pulsate  through  its  veins. 
Both  clergy  and  laity  lent  him  their  confidence  and  loyal 
support  and  the  results  of  his  efficient  handling  of 
ecclesiastical  affairs  were  soon  to  be  felt  on  every  hand. 
The  church  began  to  assume  a  higher  place  in  public 
regard  through  the  reception  into  its  fold  of  figures  of 
public  note.  Ex-Governor  Bissell  of  Illinois  was  buried 
with  Catholic  rites  in  Springfield,  Father  Smarius,  the 
Jesuit,  preaching  the  funeral  sermon,  while  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  was  received  into  the  church  by  Bishop  Duggan, 
who  delivered  a  eulogy  over  his  remains.  The  Catholic 
Institute,  a  society  of  laymen  founded  in  the  'fifties  to 
foster  intellectual  life  and  culture  among  the  laity  and 
promote  Catholic  interests  generally,  continued  its 
useful  career.  Old  St.  Mary's  was  the  place  of  meeting 
and  lectures  and  addresses  by  persons  of  national  and 
even  international  celebrity  were  delivered  at  intervals 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Institute.  Among  the  lecturers 
whom  the  Catholics  of  Chicago  were  thus  privileged  to 
hear  were  James  McMaster,  Orestes  A.  Brownson, 
Thomas  D  'Arcy  McGee,  John  Gough,  John  Mitchell  and 
Rev.  Donald  MacLeod.  Particularly  active  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Institute  were  Bernard  G.  Caulfield,  W.  J. 
Onahan,  Col.  James  A.  Mulligan,  Philip  Conley,  Charles 
McDonnell  and  Michael  Lantry.2 


4:  620;  McGovERN,  op.  cit.,  pp.  196-202.  Bishop  Constantine 
Smyth  of  Dubuque  was  for  a  brief  period  Administrator  of  the 
diocese  after  the  withdrawal  of  Bishop  O 'Regan.  Catholic  Alma- 
nac, 1858. 

2  The  funeral  oration  delivered  by  Father  Smarius  over  Ex- 
Governor  Bissel  was  reproduced  in  the  Chicago  New  World,  April 
14,  1900.  William  J.  Onahan 's  reminiscences,  contributed  under 


182  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Of  the  clergy  serving  the  Chicago  parishes  during  the 
administration  of  Bishop   Duggan,  several  were  more 


the  title  Catholic  Progress  in  Chicago,  to  the  Illinois  Catholic 
Historical  Review,  1 :  176-183,  contain  interesting  data  on  Cath- 
olic life  in  Chicago  from  the  'fifties  on. 

The  Catholic  Institute  was  organized  January  8,  1854.  On 
March  21,  1858,  a  Debating  Club  was  established  among  its  mem- 
bers, chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  William  J.  Onalian  and  Michael 
W.  O'Brien,  afterwards  a  prominent  banker  of  Detroit,  who  were 
eager  and  enthusiastic  supporters  of  all  the  activities  of  the  Insti- 
tute. In  1859  the  Institute  appears  to  have  been  supplanted  by  a 
new  Catholic  "literary  society"  known  as  the  Chicago  Lyceum, 
the  name  being  borrowed  from  an  older  organization  of  secular 
character,  which  went  out  of  existence  in  the  early  'fifties.  The 
Catholic  Institute  wrote  a  brief  but  glorious  page  in  the  history  of 
the  Catholic  lay-apostolate  in  Chicago.  Its  objects,  as  outlined  in 
the  minutes  of  the  Institute  in  the  excellent  handwriting  of  James 
A.  Mulligan,  present  an  admirable  ideal  of  lay-cooperation  in  the 
church:  "The  objects  of  the  Association  are  to  establish  a  Cath- 
olic Library  and  Reading  room,  to  provide  for  the  delivery  of 
Lectures  explanatory  of  the  principles  of  the  Catholic  Church  as 
to  her  History,  Philosophy  and  Politicks.  To  present  to  the  Cath- 
olics of  Chicago  opportunities  and  incentive  for  improvement.  To 
multiply  the  sources  of  information  and  to  promote  a  friendly 
intercourse  and  exchange  of  thought  among  the  members  of  the 
Catholic  Body  and  to  excite  and  maintain  a  laudable  zeal  for  the 
honor  and  character  of  Catholicity.  Any  Catholic  of  good  moral 
standing  may  become  a  member  of  the  Institute." 

The  energies  of  the  militant  young  Catholics  behind  the  In- 
stitute did  not  run  in  literary  channels  alone.  Besides  maintain- 
ing a  lecture  bureau,  debating  club  and  library,  they  promoted 
various  Catholic  social  gatherings,  taught  Sunday-school  and  an- 
ticipated the  work  of  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society  in  the  city 
by  visiting  and  aiding  the  poor  whose  needs,  especially  during 
the  great  panic  of  1857,  they  made  earnest  effort  to  relieve.  See 
the  article,  The  Chicago  Institute  and  Chicago  Lyceum,  by  John 
Ireland  Gallery,  in  the  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Seview,  2: 
303-323. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  183 

especially  identified  with  the  church  affairs  of  the  day. 
Among  these  were  Father  Dennis  Dunne  of  St.  Patrick 's, 
Vicar-General  of  the  diocese,  Father  Thaddeus  J.  Butler 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  Father  Joseph  P.  Roles 
of  the  Holy  Name,  Father  John  Waldron  of  St.  John's, 
Father  Patrick  W.  Reardon,  the  future  Archbishop  of 
San  Francisco,  Father  John  P.  McMullen,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  Davenport,  and  Father  Thomas  Burke  of  St. 
Columbkille 's.  With  these  and  other  zealous  clergymen 
attending  the  parishes  or  filling  professors'  chairs  in  the 
University,  Catholic  life  in  Chicago  gave  every  token  of 
health  and  vigor  and  promised  still  greater  things  to 
come. 

Bishop  Duggan  had  been  chief  pastor  of  the  Chicago  CMI  War 
diocese  only  three  years  when  the  country  was  plunged 
into  the  horrors  of  Civil  War.  Ranging  himself  from 
the  outset  on  the  Union  side  in  the  tremendous  conflict, 
he  was  energetic  in  securing  it  loyalty  and  support  from 
the  Catholics  under  his  jurisdiction.3  He  encouraged 


'ANDREAS,  History  of  Chicago,  2:  398.  "During  the  late 
rebellion,  Bishop  Duggan  has  been  a  strong  Union  man  and  has 
thrown  all  his  influence  on  the  side  of  the  Government."  PHIL- 
LIPS, Chicago  and  Her  Churches,  p.  270. 

Interesting  comments  on  the  attitude  of  Chicago  priests  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War  period  are  to  be  found  in  the  contemporary 
letters  of  Eliza  Allen  Starr,  a  distinguished  convert  to  the  Cath- 
olic Church  and  a  resident  of  Chicago  as  early  as  1856 :  ' '  You 
will  be  more  ready  to  do  this  when  I  tell  you  that  on  the  day  of 
National  Thanksgiving  Father  E[oles]  came  out  in  the  broadest 
and  most  emphatic  manner  upon  the  virtue  of  loyalty  and  the  hei- 
nousness  of  any  breach  of  its  law.  On  the  same  day  I  heard  an  in- 
struction from  Dr.  Bfutler],  whose  high  mass  was  earlier,  and  a 
more  enthusiastic  sermon  I  am  certain  was  not  preached  that  day. 
It  was  grand  in  its  theology,  and  he  brought  forward  as  his  exam- 


184  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

recruiting,  being  one  of  Col.  Mulligan's  chief  supporters 
in  the  latter 's  efforts  to  organize  the  Irish  Brigade, 


pies  saints,  popes,  and  bishops.  He  did  not  content  himself  with 
a  negative  loyalty,  but  it  was  absolute  and  positive,  an  actual 
support  of  the  present  administration  and  prayers  for  our  chief 
President — ardent  and  persevering  prayer.  It  was  one  of  those 
grand  bursts  of  a  sanctified  enthusiasm  to  which  my  good  con- 
fessor is  somewhat  liable.  From  the  very  first  year  of  the  Rebel- 
lion the  Doctor  has  gone  in  the  face  of  national  feeling  and  polit- 
ical leanings,  actuated  by  a  simple,  theological,  and  humanly 
logical  (would  it  be  correct  to  say  homological)  persuasion  of  the 
wrong  of  secession,  and  the  heinousness  of  rebellion.  He  has 
come  out  of  it  thus  far  true  to  the  training  of  the  Propagandist, 
which  always  declares  equality  without  distinction  of  race  or 
color,  and  a  horror  of  slavery.  He  now  says,  'Call  me  an  Aboli- 
tionist, if  you  please,  but  I  hold  fast  to  my  colors.'  As  far  as 
my  observation  goes  the  practice  at  the  Propaganda  is  all  in 
favor  of  Northern  ideas.  I  sometimes  find  even  the  Propa- 
gandists with  an  antipathy  to  Yankees  as  a  race,  though  I  have 
never  seen  it  towards  individuals,  but  the  good  Doctor  goes  in 
for  the  Yankees  now. 

"I  shall  enclose  to  you  one  of  the  Bishop's  circulars.  His 
council,  of  which  Dr.  Dunne,  Dr.  McMullen,  and  Dr.  Butler  are 
prominent  members,  were  strongly  in  favor  of  a  very  marked 
attention  to  the  wishes  of  the  President.  Dr.  Butler  went  so  far 
as  to  tell  his  people,  '  The  President  had  a  right  to  command  them 
to  aid  him  by  their  devotion.'  Thursday  I  went  to  mass  at  a 
farmhouse  four  or  five  miles  from  here.  An  Irish  family,  of 
course,  and  its  head  a  leading  Irishman  in  these  parts;  he  is  'for 
the  Union,  for  the  administration,  though  the  taxes  swallow  his 
farm,'  my  brother  says.  The  neighbor  with  whom  I  went  made  a 
visit,  as  well  as  attended  to  her  duty,  so  I  spent  a  day  among  my 
Celtic  neighbors,  and  everything  I  heard  was  'for  the  government 
as  it  is,  and  the  powers  that  be.'  "  (The  Life  and  Letters  of 
Eliza  Allen  Starr,  edited  by  Eev.  James  J.  McGovern,  D.  D.,  Chi- 
cago, 1905,  p.  191.) 

"If  you  wish  to  hear  good,  patriotic  talking,  come  to  Chi- 
cago and  hear  the  Doctor — and  he  is  not  the  only  one — Dr. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  185 

despatched  chaplains  and  Sisters  of  Mercy  for  the 
spiritual  and  physical  relief  of  the  soldiers  and  was 
actively  interested  in  the  various  war-relief  organiza- 
tions of  the  period,  notably  the  Sanitary  Relief  Commis- 
sion. Nor  were  examples  of  loyal,  energetic  support  of 
the  Union  wanting  in  the  ranks  of  Bishop  Duggan's 
clergy.  Father  Thomas  F.  Kelly,  founder  of  the  parish 
of  St.  James,  became  associated  as  chaplain  with  the 
90th  Illinois  Volunteers,  better  known  as  the  Irish 
Legion,  while  Father  Thaddeus  J.  Butler  discharged 
a  similar  service  for  the  Irish  Brigade.  Noteworthy  in 
this  connection  were  the  words  of  Dr.  John  McMullen, 
President  of  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake: 
"If  it  were  not  that  I  am  a  priest  and  a  man  of  peace, 
I  would  be  down  South  with  my  old  companions  who 
are  still  alive,  fighting  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Union."4 

The  story  of  the  Irish  Brigade,  the  23rd  Illinois 

.  .  Brigade 

Infantry,  deserves  more  than  passing  notice.  James  A. 
Mulligan,  native-born  American  of  Irish  extraction,  had 
been  graduated  from  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Lake  in  the  same  class  with  John  McMullen,  subse- 
quently President  of  that  institution.  Of  an  interesting 
and  engaging  personality,  he  possessed  literary  and 
journalistic  gifts  above  the  common  and  was  for  a  space 


McMullen  and  Dr.  Dunne  are  as  sound  as  himself,  only  Dr.  But- 
ler's enthusiastic  heart  and  demonstrative  manner  make  a  won- 
derful impressions.  The  Doctor  is  really  a  Democrat,  but  not  a 
Copperhead,  and  all  the  shades  of  copper  are  lashed  out  of  his 
presence.  His  patriotism  is  guarded  like  his  faith,  at  all  points. 
It  would  refresh  you  to  hear  his  grand  voice  on  the  side  of  gov- 
ernment, justice,  and  the  hosts  of  Michael  against  all  rebels." 
(Id.,  p.  175.) 

4  McGovERN,  Life  of  Bishop  McMullen,  p.  148. 


186  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

editor  of  Chicago 's  first  Catholic  newspaper,  the  Western 
Tablet;  and  he  enjoyed,  too,  in  no  inconsiderable  degree, 
the  Celtic  gift  of  oratory.  In  Chicago  in  ante-bellum 
days  were  several  military  bodies  of  Irish  Catholics,  the 
Shields,  the  Emmett,  the  Montgomery  guards  among 
them ;  and  from  the  personnel  of  these  Mulligan  planned 
early  in  the  Civil  War  to  recruit  a  regiment  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  Union.  "Rally  for  the  honor  of  the  old 
Land,  Rally  for  the  defense  of  the  New,"  was  the 
stirring  summons  to  a  meeting  held  in  North  Market 
Hall,  April  20,  1861.  Mulligan  addressed  this  meeting 
at  which  in  the  space  of  an  hour  and  a  half  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  recruits  handed  in  their  names, 
this  number  growing  to  twelve  hundred  in  a  week's 
time.  The  military  body  thus  organized  was  the  first 
independent  Illinois  regiment  to  be  accepted  by  the 
War  Department,  being  mustered  into  service  June  15, 
1861,  as  the  23rd  Illinois  Infantry.  Among  the  field 
and  staff  officers,  all  of  Chicago,  were  Col.  James  A. 
Mulligan,  Lieutenant  Col.  James  Quirk  and  Chaplain 
Father  Thaddeus  J.  Butler. 

From  their  headquarters,  "Fontenoy  Barracks,"  on 
Polk  Street,  the  "Irish  Brigade,"  as  the  23rd  Illinois 
Infantry  came  to  be  known,  proceeded  to  St.  Louis  there 
to  be  armed  and  equipped  at  the  Arsenal.  A  short  while 
after  it  went  into  action  at  Lexington,  Missouri.  Here 
it  bore  itself  with  distinguished  gallantry,  the  regi- 
ment 's  green  flag  being  torn  on  the  battlefield  into  pieces 
which  were  divided  among  the  men  to  prevent  it  from 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  news  of  the 
affair  at  Lexington  was  received  in  Chicago  with  en- 
thusiasm. I.  N.  Arnold,  one  of  its  most  conspicuous 
citizens  and  Lincoln's  friend  and  biographer,  presented 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  187 

to  Congress  the  following  resolutions  which  were  adopted 
by  that  body: 

"Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
that  the  thanks  of  Congress  be  presented  to  Col.  James  A. 
Mulligan  and  the  gallant  officers  and  soldiers  under  his  com- 
mand who  bravely  stood  by  him  against  a  greatly  superior 
force,  in  his  heroic  defense  of  Lexington,  Mo. 

Resolved,  that  the  23rd  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers — 
the  Irish  Brigade — in  testimony  of  their  gallantry  on  this  occa- 
sion, be  authorized  to  bear  upon  their  colors  the  word  'Lex- 
ington.' " 

Mustered  out  of  service,  the  Irish  brigade  was  later, 
as  a  result  of  Col.  Mulligan's  personal  appeal  to 
President  Lincoln,  reorganized  and  sent  again  into  active 
service.  In  an  engagement  fought  at  Kernstown,  near 
Winchester,  West  Virginia,  July  24,  1864,  Col.  Mulligan, 
while  leading  his  men  in  a  charge,  fell  mortally 
wounded,  dying  a  few  hours  after.  As  his  officers  were 
endeavoring  to  remove  him  to  a  place  of  safety  the  regi- 
mental colors  became  endangered,  realizing  which  he 
gave  his  last  command  in  words  that  were  soon  to  ring 
throughout  the  country,  "Lay  me  down  and  save  the 
flag. ' '  All  Chicago  mourned  the  loss  of  its  distinguished 
citizen  and  matchless  soldier.  At  his  obsequies  held  in 
St.  Mary's  Cathedral,  his  eulogy  was  pronounced  by  Dr. 
McMullen,  his  intimate  of  college  days  and  fellow- 
graduate.  What  was  less  familiar  to  the  public  than 
Colonel  Mulligan's  military  achievements,  his  sincere 
and  practical  Christian  piety,  was  particularly  stressed 
by  the  speaker. 

"Never  did  his  lips  which  once  repeated,  'Thou  shalt  not 
take  the  name  of  God  in  vain/  in  obedience  to  His  will,  pro- 
nounce the  Holy  Name  irreverently.  Lately  returning  from 


188 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 


New 

Parishes : 
St. 
Henry's 


the  toils  of  war,  he  made  a  short  sojourn  among  us  and  took 
the  opportunity  of  attending  in  a  special  manner  to  the  sancti- 
fication  of  his  soul.  Every  morning-,  St.  Mary's,  the  mother 
of  churches  in  our  city,  received  him  at  the  Sacrifice,  this  'old 
sanctuary  of  his  early  piety,  where  rests  all  that  time  has 
left  us  of  that  object  of  his  veneration,  Bishop  Quarter.  And 
how  can  I  forget  his  parting  words,  which  brought  to  me,  I 
thought  to  him,  a  presentiment  of  what  has  happened.  'Pray 
for  me,'  he  said  for  parting,  'for  I  shall  need  your  prayers 
soon,  and  so  farewell  until  this  cruel  war  is  over.'  "  5 

The  single  parish  of  St.  Mary's  which  Bishop 
Quarter  found  in  Chicago  when  he  arrived  there  in  May, 
1844,  saw  three  additional  ones — St.  Patrick's,  St. 
Peter's,  St.  Joseph's  and  to  some  extent  a  fourth,  the 
Holy  Name,  grow  up  before  his  untimely  death.  To 
these  were  added,  under  Bishop  Van  de  Velde,  St. 
Louis's,  St.  Michael's,  St.  Francis  of  Assisi's,  St. 
Henry's  and  St.  Bridget's.  The  first  three  were  or- 
ganized and  well  started  on  their  way  as  independent 
parishes  under  Bishop  Van  de  Velde ;  but  of  St.  Henry 's 
and  St.  Bridget's,  only  the  beginnings  were  made  before 
his  withdrawal  from  the  diocese.  As  early  as  1851  a 
church  had  been  built  by  Father  Henry  Fortmann, 


5  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  2 :  190 ;  McGovERN,  Life  of  Bishop  Mc- 
Mullen.  Michael  Diversey,  prominent  in  German  Catholic  circles 
in  Chicago  and  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  organization  of 
St.  Michael's  parish,  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Washington 
Independent  Regiment,  which  was  offered  entire  to  Governor 
Yates  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  and  accepted.  A  gran- 
ite shaft,  surmounted  by  the  figure  of  a  Union  soldier,  was 
erected  in  St.  Boniface  Cemetery  in  memory  of  the  German  Cath- 
olics who  died  in  their  country's  service  during  the  Civil  War. 
"In  the  last  war  many  German  Catholics  fought  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union,  proving  thereby  that  the  German  immigrants 
are  true  sons  of  the  land."  BURGLER,  op.  cit.,  p.  212. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  189 

pastor  of  Gross  Point  or  New  Trier,  on  the  site  of  the 
present  St.  Henry's  church  at  Ridge  and  Devon 
Avenues,  then  outside  the  city  limits  in  the  suburban 
district  subsequently  known  as  Rose  Hill.  Attended 
first  by  the  pastor  of  Gross  Point  and  later  by  the 
Redemptorist  Fathers  of  St.  Michael's  church,  St. 
Henry's  parish  received  its  first  resident  priest,  Decem- 
ber, 1869,  in  the  person  of  Father  Haems. 

The  origin  of  St.  Bridget's  parish  is  to  be  referred  st.  Bridget's 
to  the  beginning  of  the  'fifties,  when  Mass  began  to  be 
said  in  a  private  house  at  the  south  branch  of  the  river 
and  Archer  Avenue.  Here,  in  the  district  named 
Bridgeport,  Irish  emigrants  were  settling  in  ever- 
increasing  numbers.  Served  at  first  as  a  station  from 
St.  Patrick's,  St.  Bridget's  was  recognized  as  an  inde- 
pendent parish  in  1854,  the  church  records  beginning 
with  the  baptism  of  Margaret  Duffy  on  January  1  of 
that  year.  The  officiating  priest  was  Father  Michael 
Donohue  of  St.  Patrick's,  who  was  succeeded  in  1855  by 
Father  Thomas  Kelly,  deputed  by  Bishop  O 'Regan  in 
1855  to  look  after  the  Catholic  families  resident  in  the 
districts  known  as  Carville  and  Bridgeport.  Father 
Kelly  made  his  residence  in  Carville,  attending  thence 
the  station  in  Bridgeport,  where  he  built  the  first  per- 
manent St.  Bridget's  church,  a  brick  structure,  on  the 
site  of  the  present  church  at  Archer  Avenue  and  Arch 
Street.  Having  resigned  his  parochial  duties  to  become 
a  chaplain  in  the  Civil  War,  Father  Kelly  was  suc- 
ceeded in  the  care  of  St.  Bridget's  by  Father  John 
Grogan,  the  first  resident  pastor  of  the  church.6 


6  Diamond  Jubilee  of  tlie  Archdiocese  of  Chicago,  1920,  St. 
Mary's  Training  School  Press,  Desplaines,  Illinois,  p.  271. 


190  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH   IN   CHICAGO 

st. James's,  The  few  years  of  Bishop   0 'Regan's   residence  in 

South  Chicago  Chicago  witnessed  the  establishment  of  the  parishes  of 
St.  James,  St.  Patrick  in  South  Chicago,  and  the  Holy 
Family.  Father  Damen's  achievement  in  building  up 
his  great  parish  on  the  West  Side  has  been  told  above. 
St.  James 's  parish  owes  its  creation  to  the  zeal  of  Father 
Thomas  Kelly,  who  in  1855  took  in  hand  the  spiritual 
care  of  the  Catholic  families  resident  in  Carville  on  the 
South  Side.  These  families  numbered  in  the  beginning 
some  twenty,  those  of  "William  Donohue,  Robert  AVhalen, 
John  Downey  and  Timothy  Flannigan  being  particu- 
larly identified  with  the  birth  of  the  new  parish.  Mass 
for  the  parishioners  was  first  celebrated  in  a  room  in 
St.  Agatha's  Mercy  Convent,  Twenty-sixth  Street  and 
Calumet  Avenue.  In  1858  a  frame  church  was  erected 
on  Prairie  Avenue  between  Twenty-sixth  and  Twenty- 
seventh  Streets,  the  pastor  residing  at  314  Calumet 
Avenue  and  later  at  1223  Prairie  Avenue.  It  was  not 
until  1880  that  a  church  was  built  on  the  present  site, 
Wabash  Avenue  and  Twenty-ninth  Street. 

St.  Patrick's  parish,  South  Chicago,  now  within  the 
limits  of  the  metropolis,  was  in  its  origin  a  mission  in  the 
village  of  Ainsworth  attended  from  St.  James's.  It  wras 
started  in  1857  by  Father  Kelly,  the  founder  of  St. 
James's  parish,  who  in  1861  built  a  frame  church  at  what 
is  now  South  Chicago  Avenue  and  Ninety-third  Street. 
St.  Patrick's  was  served  from  St.  Thomas's,  Hyde  Park, 
after  the  establishment  of  that  parish  in  1866  and  not 
until  1880  did  it  receive  its  first  resident  pastor,  Father 
Martin  Van  der  Laar.  In  its  early  days  the  territory 
of  St.  Patrick's  embraced  in  addition  to  Ainsworth  the 
entire  Calumet  region,  including  the  settlements  known 


I 
BISHOP  DUGGAN  191 

as  Irondale,  Hegewisch,  Windsor  Park,  Cheltenham  and 
Pullman.7 

Under    Bishop    Duggan    the    organization    of    new  st.  John's, 

•  -i  •     .  i     •  -i  T     T  j_      J.-L.       St.  ColumbkiJie' 

parishes  went  on  apace,  some  sixteen  being  added  to  the  Immaculate 
list  during  his  tenure  of  the  Chicago  see.  The  year  1859  Conception 
was  marked  by  the  establishment  of  three  new  parishes, 
St.  John's,  St.  Columbkille 's  and  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception. St.  John's  dates  from  June  24  of  that  year 
when  Father  John  Waldron,  an  outstanding  figure 
among  the  Catholic  clergy  of  the  day,  who  had  been  in 
charge  of  the  French  church  of  St.  Louis  ever  since 
his  ordination,  began  the  erection  of  a  frame  church  at 
the  corner  of  Clark  and  Old  or  Eighteenth  Streets.  The 
humble  house  of  worship  had  a  seating  capacity  of  three 
hundred  and  cost  $3,500.  It  was  dedicated  by  Bishop 
Duggan  October  30,  1859.  Subsequently  enlarged  to  the 
dimensions  64x66  feet,  the  original  St.  John's  church, 
building  site  included,  cost  the  parishioners  the  sum  of 
$20,000.  St.  Columbkille 's  at  Paulina  Street  and  West 
Grand  Avenue  (originally  Owen  and  later  Indiana 
Street)  began  as  a  mission  of  St.  Patrick's.  The  bap- 
tismal and  marriage  records  of  the  parish  open  with 
entries  for  September  18,  1859,  the  first  pastor  being 
Father  Patrick  Ward,  who  was  succeeded  the  following 
year  by  Father  Edward  Keeney.  Then,  in  1862,  came 
Father  "Tom"  Burke,  with  whom  the  pioneer  stage  of 
the  parish  is  especially  identified.  In  its  early  years  St. 
Columbkille 's  was  a  parish  of  vast  extent,  taking  in,  as 
it  did,  Cicero,  Cragin  and  the  rolling-mill  district  of 


7  ANDREAS,  op.   cit.,  2 :   401 ;   Catholic  Directory,  1867 ;   Dia- 
mond Jubilee  of  the  Archdiocese  of  Chicago,  1920,  p.  315. 


192  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

North  Chicago  and  reaching  down  on  the  south  to  St. 
Patrick's  and  the  Holy  Family.  The  first  church  was 
built  about  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War;  and  from 
its  portals,  after  attending  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  went 
forth  to  the  front  in  1861  a  regiment  made  up  largely 
of  parishioners  of  St.  Columbkille  's.  To  the  zealous 
efforts  of  Father  William  Edwards  is  due  the  inception 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  parish,  which  at  first  took 
in  the  wide  sweep  of  territory  lying  between  Division 
Street  and  Evanston.  The  church,  work  on  which  was 
begun  in  1859,  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Duggan  on 
March  25,  1860.  It  stood  at  Franklin,  now  North  Park 
Avenue,  and  Schiller  Streets  and  was  erected  at  a  cost 
of  $17,000.  Father  Edwards  was  succeeded  at  his  death 
in  1861  by  Father  Thaddeus  Butler,  D.  D.,  Chaplain  of 
the  Irish  Brigade,  who  remained  pastor  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  for  seven  years.8 

Growth  of  The    three    German    parishes    of    St.    Peter's,    St. 

paJflTr  Joseph's  and  St.  Michael's  prospered  all  through  the 
st.  Peter's  'sixties.  In  the  fall  of  1853  St.  Peter's  moved  its  pioneer 
church  from  the  original  location  on  the  south  side  of 
Washington  Street,  some  hundred  feet  west  of  Wells,  to 
the  south-west  corner  of  Clark  and  Polk  Streets.  In 
1863  a  brick  church  was  begun  to  be  occupied  the  fol- 
lowing year.  It  cost  $45,000  and  is  still  standing, 
though  the  parish  has  long  since  dwindled  into  insig- 
nificance before  the  encroachments  of  business  and 
undesirable  social  elements.  Yet  large  numbers  of  the 
devout  Catholic  laity  continue  to  frequent  old  St. 
Peter's  to  share  the  ministry  of  the  Franciscan 


8  ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  2:   406;   Diamond  Jubilee  of  the  Arch- 
diocese of  Chicago,  1920,  pp.  341,  331,  333. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  193 

Fathers,  who  have  been  in  charge  of  the  church  since 
1878.  The  parish,  which  numbered  only  some  thirty 
families  at  its  foundation  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  at 
the  time  the  old  church  was  moved  to  Clark  Street,  had 
grown  to  twelve  hundred  families  at  the  period  of  the 
Fire.9 

Keeping  pace  with  the  growth  of  St.  Peter's  parish  st. Joseph's 
was  its  twin-sister,  St.  Joseph's  parish,  the  two  having 
been  organized  simultaneously  by  Father'  Jung.  The 
little  frame  church,  36x65,  which  stood  at  the  north-east 
corner  of  Cass  and  Superior  Streets  on  a  lot  purchased 
from  Peter  Annen,  served  the  needs  of  the  parish  until 
1861.  Father  Jung  withdrew  from  the  Chicago  diocese 
in  1848  and  was  followed  at  St.  Joseph's  in  succession 
by  Fathers  Schaeffer,  Plathe  and  Kopp.  Father  Kopp 
served  the  parish  for  seven  years,  organizing  during  his 
incumbency  a  number  of  its  families  into  the  new  parish 
of  St.  Michael's.  In  September,  1856,  the  Fathers  of 
the  Holy  Cross,  established  since  the  early  'forties  at 
Notre  Dame,  Indiana,  arrived  in  Chicago  to  take  over 
the  management  of  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Lake.  St.  Joseph's  church,  directly  across  from  the  Uni- 
versity property  on  Chicago  Avenue,  was  at  the  same 
time  committed  to  their  charge.  Father  John  B.  Mager 


9  BURGLER,  Gescliichte  der  Tcathol.  Kirche  Chicago's  mit  ~beson- 
derer  Berucksichtigung  des  Jcatholischen  Deutschthums,  Chicago, 
1889.  Burgler's  list  of  original  members  of  St.  Peter's  parish 
includes  the  names  of  John  Gross,  Joseph  Yager,  John  Glasen, 
Andrew  Schall,  Andrew  Schaller,  Nicolas  and  Peter  Rees,  Joseph 
and  Anton  Berg,  Hubert  Maas,  Michael  Gleinhaus,  Joseph  Schu- 
macher, John  Paul,  Adam  Amberg,  John  and  Frank  Busch,  Casper 
Pfeifer,  Michael  Eule  and  M.  Haas. 


194  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

at  once  assumed  the  duties  of  pastor  with  Father  C.  B. 
Kilroy  as  assistant.  In  May,  1857,  Father  Mager  was 
succeeded  by  Father  Andrew  Tusch,  who  in  turn  was 
followed  by  other  priests  of  his  Congregation  including 
Fathers  Force,  Schuyler  and  Gillespie.  Father  Mager 
subsequently  returned  to  St.  Joseph's  as  pastor  and  was 
apparently  in  charge  at  the  time  the  Holy  Cross 
Fathers  withdrew  from  Chicago,  the  up-keep  of  the 
University  having  entailed  financial  burdens  too  great 
for  them  to  continue  to  bear.  They  were  succeeded  at 
St.  Joseph's  by  Benedictine  Fathers  from  St.  Vincent's 
Abbey,  Pennsylvania,  who  took  over  the  parish  on  June 
15,  1861.  From  the  first  the  parishioners  were  drawn 
to  these  zealous  sons  of  St.  Benedict,  whose  ministry  in 
this  venerable  North  Side  parish  has  continued  to  our 
own  day. 

At  the  head  of  the  long  line  of  Benedictine  priests 
who  have  lent  their  services  with  distinguished  zeal  to 
the  care  of  St.  Joseph's  parish  was  Father  Louis  Mary 
Fink,  who  took  up  his  pastoral  duties  June  13,  1861. 
The  first  of  his  Order  to  assist  him  in  the  pastorate  was 
Father  Meinrad  Jaegle,  who  was  consecrated  Abbot  by 
Bishop  Duggan  in  St.  Joseph  church,  July  25,  1861. 
Father  Fink  began  in  1862  the  erection  of  a  new  church 
in  basilica  style,  which  was  occupied  before  the  close  of 
the  year.  It  was  solemnly  dedicated  March  19,  1865. 
Abbot  Boniface  Zimmer  having  appointed  Father  Fink 
Prior  of  St.  Benedict's  Abbey,  Atchison,  Kansas,  the 
latter  was  succeeded  at  St.  Joseph's  in  1868  by  Father 
Leander  Schneer.  Three  years  later,  in  1871,  Prior 
Fink  was  named  by  the  Holy  See  to  the  bishopric  of 
Leavenworth  left  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Bishop 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  195 

Miege.  June  11  of  that  year  saw  his  consecration  by 
Bishop  Foley  assisted  by  Bishops  Melchers,  Domenec 
and  Miege.  The  consecration  took  place  in  the  new  St. 
Joseph's  church,  Chicago,  of  which  ha  had  formerly 
been  pastor  and  which  owed  its  erection  to  his  zealous 
enterprise.  A  few  months  later  this  splendid  shrine  of 
Catholic  worship  fell  a  prey  to  the  Great  Fire.10 

The  story  of  the  beginnings  of  St.  Michael's  parish  St. Michael's 
has  been  told  above.11  First  among  the  pastors  of  St. 
Michael's  was  Father  Kopp,  who  attended  the  new 
church  from  St.  Joseph's.  In  November,  1852,  Father 
August  Kramer  was  installed  as  first  resident  priest  of 
the  parish,  after  him  following  in  quick  succession 
Fathers  Eusebius  Kaiser,  Joseph  Zoegel,  Anthony 
Saeger  and  Aloysius  Hatala,  a  Hungarian.  Then  after 
a  few  months'  vacancy  of  the  pastorate  came  the 
Redemptorist  Fathers,  who  in  January,  1860,  assumed 
charge  of  the  parish. 


10  BURGLER,  op.  tit.,  37.    Burgler  gives  a  list  of  original  mem- 
bers of  St.   Joseph's  parish  as  follows:      Peter   Gobel,   Michael 
Diversey,   Augustin    Gauer,   Jacob    Miller,   Maurice    Baumgarten, 
John   S.   Vogt,   Frank   Spohr,   Matthias  Kreiser,   Mathias   Miller, 
Michael    Hoffman,     M.    Laux,     Jacob    Easkop,     Henry    Gherkin, 
Thomas  Muimvegen,  N.  Petri,  Joseph   Marbach,  Jacob  Doni,  N. 
Leis,  N.  Brisback,  Wilhelm  Wischmeier,  Heinrich  Wischmeier,  J. 
Leist,  W.  Dussmann,  N.  Schinacker,  N.  Palm,  Lorenz  Bar,  Peter 
Berens,   N.   Brachtendorf,   N.   Schweissthal,   W.   Faymonville,   M. 
Hambach,  N.  Klassen,  Peter  Annen. 

11  Vid.  supra,  p.  146.   BURGLER,  op.  cit.,  pp.  56-62.  The  original 
members    of    St.    Michael's   parish    included    William    Dussmann, 
Michael  Diversey,  John  Forsell,  Nicolas  Hamson,  Mathias  Miller, 
Peter  Brachtendorf,  William  Faymonville,  John  Kuhn,  Christian 
Kuhn,  Conrad  Folz,  John  Schummer  and  Peter  Scheinberg. 


196  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

With  the  coming  of  the  Redemptorists  new  spiritual 
vigor  began  to  manifest  itself  in  the  parish,  which  had 
been  none  the  better  for  the  frequent  change  of  pastors. 
Father  Joseph  Mueller  was  first  Superior  of  the 
Eedemptorist  community  and  pastor  of  the  church. 
Father  Roesch  became  pastor  in  1863  and  Father  Peter 
Zimmer  in  1865.  Under  Father  Zimmer  the  corner-stone 
was  laid  on  November  4,  1866,  of  a  new  brick  church, 
200x80  with  tower,  the  cost  of  the  structure  being 
$130,000.  It  was  dedicated  to  divine  service  September 
29,  1869.  The  fire  of  1871  burnt  out  the  interior  of  the 
church,  but  the  massive  brick  walls  were  left  uninjured. 

What  the  Redemptorist  ministry  meant  to  St. 
Michael 's  parish  has  been  aptly  sketched  by  a  competent 
authority : 

"With  the  care  of  souls  now  taken  in  hand  by  the  Re- 
demptorist Fathers,  began  a  new  life  for  St.  Michael's  parish, 
a  season  of  real  blossoming  and  expansion,  a  season  of  pros- 
perity and  growth.  With  that  earnestness  joined  to  engaging 
mildness  which  seems  to  be  peculiar  to  the  sons  of  St.  Alphon- 
sus  and  of  Blessed  Clement  Mary  Hofbauer,  the  Fathers  won 
the  confidence  and  love  of  the  German  Catholics;  many  who 
had  gone  off  to  other  churches,  many  also  who  had  given  up 
church-going  altogether,  met  again  together  under  the  Fathers 
and  little  by  little  the  parish  waxed  stronger  and  an  active 
Catholic  life  began  to  develop.  The  irreproachable  and  genu- 
inely priestly  conduct  of  the  Fathers  who  lived  by  themselves 
in  the  strict  retirement  of  the  cloister  and  went  among  the 
people  only  to  discharge  their  priestly  calling  was  a  powerful 
support  to  them  in  their  activities  for  the  salvation  of  souls 
and  the  welfare  of  the  parish  committed  to  their  hands. 
Thanks  to  the  zeal  and  efficiency  of  the  very  worthy  order  of 
Our  Most  Holy  Redeemer,  St.  Michael's  parish  has  grown 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  197 

[1889]  to  be  the  largest  and  most  distinguished  German-Cath- 
olic parish  in  the  city  of  Chicago."  12 

During  the  first  year  or  two  of  the  Civil  War  church 
building  and  the  organization  of  new  parishes  were  very 
much  at  a  stand-still;  but  they  again  became  active  as 
the  great  conflict  wore  down  to  the  final  issue.  In  1863 
St.  Wenceslaus's  and  in  1864  St.  Boniface's  and  Notre 
Dame  de  Chicago  came  into  being.  At  a  meeting  held 
August  14,  1863,  the  Bohemian  Catholics  of  the  city, 
eager  for  a  church  of  their  own,  decided  to  purchase 
the  property  of  H.  H.  Washburn  at  the  corner  of  Des- 
plaines  and  De  Koven  Streets.  Some  eighty-five  families 
having  signified  their  readiness  to  contribute  to  the 
building-fund,  the  church  was  begun  on  the  site  named 
in  1865  and  finished  the  following  year.  Attended  for 
a  brief  period  first  by  Father  A.  Lang  of  the  Dubuque 
diocese  and  after  him  by  Father  F.  X.  Schulak,  a  well- 
known  Jesuit  missionary  of  Moravian  birth,  St.  Wences- 
laus  parish  came  into  the  hands,  August  26,  1865,  of 
Father  Joseph  Molitor,  who  served  it  with  edifying  and 
unabated  zeal  down  to  his  death  in  1906. 

St.  Boniface's  parish  was  started  by  the  Benedictine  st.  Boniface's 
Fathers  for  the  families  resident  in  the  west  end  of  their 
parish  of  St.  Joseph.  A  school-house  appears  to  have 
been  built  in  1864,  the  first  Mass  was  said  March  5,  1865, 
and  in  the  summer  of  that  year  a  church  of  frame, 
costing  $7,500,  was  erected  at  Noble  and  Cornell  Streets. 
Father  Philip  Albrecht,  a  diocesan  priest,  was  in  charge 
from  the  fall  of  that  year  to  1867,  when  Father  J.  Mar- 
schall  succeeded  to  the  pastorate.  Two  years  later,  in 
1869,  Father  Clement  Venn  was  named  pastor,  holding 

"BURGLER,  op.  dt.,  p.  32. 


198 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 


Notre  Dame 
de  Chicago 


Sacred  Heart 


the  post  for  twenty-seven  years,  during  which  St. 
Boniface's  grew  to  be  the  largest  German-speaking 
parish  in  Chicago  with  the  possible  exception  of  St. 
Michael's.  In  1867  the  Franciscan  Sisters  of  Joliet  were 
entrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  parish  schools.13 

The  parish  of  Notre  Dame  de  Chicago  was  in  reality 
the  old  parish  of  St.  Louis  for  French-speaking 
Catholics,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  immigrants  from 
Canada.  The  pioneer  church  on  Clark  Street  had  been 
moved  in  1855  to  the  west  side  of  Sherman  Street  just 
north  of  Polk.  Nine  years  later,  in  1864,  a  new  church 
was  begun  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Halsted  and 
Congress  Streets.  Dedicated  in  March,  1865,  it  was 
served  first  by  Father  A.  De  Montabrique  and  after  him 
by  Father  Cote.14 

New  units  were  now  being  added  yearly  to  the 
Catholic  parishes  of  Chicago.  In  1865  the  first  steps 
were  taken  towards  the  establishment  of  the  parishes  of 
St.  Stanislaus,  later  the  Sacred  Heart,  St.  Thomas  the 
Apostle  and  St.  Anne.  That  of  St.  Stanislaus  was  an 
outgrowth  of  the  Holy  Family.  In  March,  1865,  Father 
Arnold  Damen,  S.  J.,  built  a  frame  school-house  on 
Evans  now  Eighteenth  Street,  opposite  John.  The 
ground  on  which  it  stood  was  the  gift  of  Mr.  John 
Welsh,  an  alumnus  of  St.  Louis  University.  In  1868 
the  original  structure  received  an  addition  50x40,  and 
in  this  enlarged  structure,  known  as  St.  Stanislaus 
chapel,  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  the  first  in  the  history  of  the 
parish,  was  offered  by  Father  Damen  on  January  1, 

13  BURGLER,  op.  cit.,  p.  100 ;  Diamond  Jubilee  of  the  Arch- 
diocese of  Chicago,  1920,  p.  361. 
"ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  2:  400. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  190 

1869.  Placed  at  first  under  the  patronage  of  St. 
Stanislaus  Kostka,  the  Jesuit  saint,  the  parish  later 
adopted  the  title  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  under  which  title 
a  spacious  church  of  brick  was  erected,  1873-75,  at  the 
southeast  corner  of  Nineteenth  and  South  Peoria 
Streets. 

St.  Thomas  the  Apostle's  church  at  Kimbark  Ave-  st. Thomas 
nue  and  Fifty-fifth  Street  is  a  child  of  St.  James's,  the  theAP°stle 
founder  of  the  latter,  Father  Thomas  Kelly,  having  as 
early  as  1865  gathered  the  scattered  Catholic  families 
of  Hyde  Park  Station  into  a  mission  and  shortly  after- 
wards built  them  a  little  church.  In  1868  Father  P.  T. 
Butler  became  pastor.  St.  Anne's  at  Fifty-fifth  Street 
and  Wentworth  Avenue  likewise  began  its  career  as 
a  mission  of  St.  James's  about  the  same  time  as  St. 
Thomas  the  Apostle's.  When  in  July,  1868,  the  latter 
was  organized  as  an  independent  parish,  with  Thirty- 
eight  Street  as  the  line  between  it  and  Saint  James's, 
it  found  the  mission  of  St.  Anne's  lying  within  its 
territory.  The  first  St.  Anne's  church,  a  frame  structure 
formerly  serving  the  purpose  of  a  Jewish  synagogue  in 
the  down-town  district,  was  moved  to  the  site  of  the 
present  St.  Anne's  in  August,  1868.  A  few  months 
later  Father  Thomas  Leyden  was  installed  as  first 
resident  pastor.15 

The  Annunciation  parish,  with  church  at  Paulina   Annunciation, 
Street  and  Wabansia  Avenue,  dates  from  1866  when 
Father  "Tom"  Burke  of  St.  Columbkille's  established 
here  a  mission  and  built  a  small  church,  which  he  con- 
tinued to  serve  until  the  advent  in  1868  of  the  first 


15  Diamond  Jubilee  of  the  Archdiocese  of  Chicago,  1920,  pp. 
365-371. 


200  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

resident  pastor,  Father  Thomas  Edwards.  In  1867  a 
hundred  and  fifty  Polish  families,  organized  as  the 
Society  of  St.  Stanislaus,  began  with  episcopal  appro- 
bation the  erection  of  a  modest  two-story  frame  building 
serving  both  school  and  church  purposes,  at  the  corner 
of  Noble  and  Bradley  Streets.  Father  F.  X.  Schulak, 
S.  J.,  was  in  charge  until  the  appointment  in  1869  of 
Father  Joseph  Juskiewicz  as  permanent  pastor.  The 
following  year  came  the  Resurrectionists,  who  have  con- 
tinued ever  since  to  serve  zealously  this  great  parish  of 
St.  Stanislaus  Kostka.  Even  in  distant  Poland  the 
story  of  the  parish  in  said  to  be  familiarly  known  and 
its  parochial  school  has  the  largest  registration  of  any 
in  the  country.16 

Nativity,  In  1868  Father  Michael  Lyons  was  commissioned  by 

Bishop  Duggan  to  organize  a  parish  in  the  Stock-yards 
district,  which  centered  around  the  Transit  House  at 
Halsted  and  Forty-second  Streets  in  the  Town  of  Lake. 
Having  acquired  property  on  the  north  side  of  Thirty- 
ninth  Street  between  Halsted  Street  and  Emerald  Ave- 
nue, Father  Lyons  caused  to  be  moved  thither  a  building 
which  had  been  used  as  a  sales-stable  and  which  he 
now  had  converted  into  a  church.  It  was  dedicated 
April  8,  1868,  by  the  Rev.  T.  J.  Halligan,  Administrator 
of  the  diocese,  under  the  title,  it  would  appear,  of  the 
Holy  Angels,  a  title  subsequently  changed  to  that  of 
the  Nativity.  The  same  year  that  saw  the  establishment 
of  a  parish  in  the  Stock-yards  district,  saw  the  members 


16  For  data  regarding  the  parishes  which  follow  use  has  been 
made  chiefly  of  the  above-cited  Diamond  Jubilee  of  the  Arch- 
diocese of  Chicago,  1920.  The  Catholic  Directory,  1867,  lists  St. 
Rose's  Church,  North  Franklin  near  Chicago  Avenue. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  201 

of  the  German  parish  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  beginning 
to  worship  in  the  splendid  new  edifice  of  brick  erected  by 
them  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Twelfth  Street  and  New- 
berry  Avenue.  Their  old  church  of  frame  at  Clinton  and 
Mather  Streets  thereupon  began,  under  the  name  of 
St.  Paul,  to  serve  the  needs  of  the  English-speaking 
Catholics  of  the  vicinity  with  Father,  or,  as  he  was 
more  popularly  known,  Dr.  John  McMullen  in  charge. 
The  church  and  other  parish  buildings  of  St.  Paul's 
were  all  swept  way  in  the  fire  of  1871  and  the  parish, 
which  counted  over  a  thousand  families  in  1866,  was 
thereupon  discontinued. 

Two  West  Side  parishes,  St.  Jarlath's  and  St.  st.jariath's, 
Stephen's,  date  from  1869.  The  westernmost  section  of 
St.  Patrick's  parish  having  been  laid  out  in  that  year 
as  a  separate  parish  wTas  given  the  name  St.  Aloysius, 
changed  a  year  later  to  that  of  St.  Jarlath.  A  frame 
church  with  seating  capacity  of  three  hundred  and  fifty 
was  built  at  the  corner  of  Hermitage  Avenue  and 
West  Jackson  Street  and  at  first  served  from  St. 
Patrick's,  Father  J.  J.  Grogan  being  the  first  attending 
priest  and  subsequently  the  first  resident  pastor.  It  was 
Father  Grogan  who  named  the  parish  for  St.  Jarlath 
as  a  tribute  to  his  alma  mater,  St.  Jarlath's  College  in 
Tuam,  Ireland.  Established  in  the  same  year  as  St. 
Jarlath's  was  St.  Stephen's  parish,  its  founder  being 
Father  Stephen  Barrett  who  built  his  church  on  North 
Sangamon  Street.  Finally,  in  February,  1870,  the  be- 
ginnings were  made  of  the  parish  of  St.  John  Nepo- 
mucene,  the  second  for  the  Catholic  Bohemians  of 
Chicago.  Property  was  bought  at  Twenty-fifth  and 
Portland  (now  Princeton)  Streets,  and  steps  were  taken 


202 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 


Catholic 
Sisterhoods 


Religious  of 
Sacred  Heart 


towards  the  erection  of  a  frame  church,  which  was 
completed  in  1871,  Father  W.  Cheka  arriving  from 
Moravia  to  assume  the  duties  of  pastor. 

All  in  all,  twenty-eight  parishes,  including  St. 
Thomas 's  in  Hyde  Park,  St.  Patrick 's  in  South  Chicago 
and  St.  Henry's  in  Rose  Hill,  had  been  established  in 
Chicago  at  the  time  when  the  great  fire  of  1871  spread 
the  trail  of  destruction  that  was  to  mark  a  turning- 
point  in  the  religious  110  less  than  in  the  civic  history  of 
Chicago. 

To  the  Catholic  sisterhoods  more  than  any  other 
human  agency  is  due  the  upbuilding  of  Chicago 's  system 
of  Catholic  parochial  schools  to  its  present  splendid 
development.  They  were  early  in  the  field,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  leading  the  van  in  the  late 
'forties.  The  latter  opened  girls'  free  schools  succes- 
sively in  St.  Mary's,  the  Holy  Name,  and  St.  Patrick's 
parishes.  In  1856  the  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  were 
conducting  schools  for  "German  and  English  girls," 
while  at  the  same  time  similar  schools  for  boys  were 
being  taught  by  Brothers  of  the  Holy  Cross  in  various 
parishes  of  the  city.17 

In  August,  1858,  Madame  Galway,  with  ten  other 
Religious  of  the  Sacred  Heart  arrived  in  Chicago  at 
the  invitation  of  Bishop  0 'Regan  and  subsequently 
of  Bishop  Duggan.  The  community  resided  first  on 
Wabash  Avenue  and  later  at  Rush  and  Illinois 
Streets,  where  they  conducted  a  school  for  girls. 
Madame  Galway,  having  acquired  twelve  acres  on 
Taylor  Street  on  the  West  Side,  within  the  limits  of 
the  new  Jesuit  parish  of  the  Holy  Family,  built  there 


17  Metropolitan  Catholic  Almanac,  1857. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  203 

a  convent,  which  was  first  occupied  by  the  nuns  on 
August  20,  1860.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  the  frame 
building  on  the  North  Side  formerly  occupied  by  the 
nuns  was  moved  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Taylor  and 
Lytle  Streets  and  in  it  was  opened  a  "free-school"  for 
the  girls  of  the  Holy  Family  parish.  In  1864  Madame 
Galway  enlarged  the  convent  building,  establishing  in 
it  an  academy  and  boarding-school  for  girls.  In  1866 
a  brick  building  with  capacity  for  1000  children  was 
erected  for  the  "free"  or  parochial  school  at  Taylor 
and  Lytle  Streets.18 

In  1864  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  were  engaged  as  teach- 
ers of  the  girls'  schools  of  St.  Mary's  and  St.  John's, 
while  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  were  similarly  engaged 
in  St.  Michael's,  the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  the  Holy 
Name  and  the  Sisters  of  Loretto  in  St.  Patrick's.  The 
Benedictine  Sisters  were  in  1866  teaching  in  the  parish 
schools  of  St.  Joseph's,  while  in  the  same  year  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy  took  in  charge  both  the  boys'  and 
girls'  schools  of  the  new  parish  of  St.  James.19 

In  1867  a  second  parish  school  for  girls  was  organ-   sisters  of 
ized  in  the  Holy  Family  parish,  with  the  Sisters  of   the  messed 
Charity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  a  Dubuque  foundation,   virgin 
in    charge.     In    February    of    that   year    Sister    Mary 
Margaret,  Superioress  of  the  Davenport  convent  of  the 
Sisterhood,  wrote  to  Father  Donaghoe,  to  whose  enter- 
prise the  creation  of  the  Sisterhood  was  largely  due : 

"Since  I  wrote  the  above  Father  Damen  has  been  here. 
He  wants  our  Sisters,  six  or  nine,  to  teach  a  parochial  school 

"ANDREAS,  op.  cit.,  3:  774. 

19  Catholic  Directory,  1864-  1866;  MINOGUE,  Loretto:  Annals 
of  the  Century,  183. 


204  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

in  Chicago.  He  will  provide  for  them  a  house  furnished,  an 
oratory  and  daily  Mass,  will  pay  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  a  year  to  each  Sister,  and  if  they  teach  music,  em- 
broidery or  painting,  the  income  will  be  their  own.  Father 
Damen  will  do  all  he  can  for  them.  He  would  be  glad  to  get 
nine  Sisters,  but  is  willing  to  take  six  for  a  beginning.  He 
has  an  understanding  with  the  Bishop  about  it.  Now,  dear 
Father,  think  of  it,  and  I  hope  God  will  direct  you.  I  told 
Father  Damen  I  would  write  you  all  these  details.  I  will 
get  all  the  Sisters  to  say  the  Thirty  Days'  Prayer  for  your 
intention.  Will  you  tell  me  what  you  think  of  it  when  you 
write?  Father  Damen  wrote  to  you  on  this  subject  some  time 
ago.  I  will  be  glad  to  hear  what  you  will  say  to  his  proposi- 
tion ;  I  hope  it  will  succeed."  20 

Though  Father  Donaghoe  was  eager  to  seize  this 
opportunity  of  introducing  his  Sisters  into  the  great 
field  for  Catholic  education  that  lay  white  to  the 
harvest  in  the  most  prosperous  city  of  the  Middle  West, 
the  step  could  not  be  taken  without  some  delay.  The 
following  July  found  Father  Damen  still  awaiting  the 
Sisters  anxiously. 

"We  would  like  to  get  nine  Sisters,"  he  writes  to  Father 
Donaghoe,  "but  try  to  send  three  or  four  at  once,  if  possible, 
and  let  them  be  good  teachers  so  as  to  make  a  good  impression, 
for  the  first  impression  is  generally  the  lasting  one.  I  need  not 
say  that  I  have  the  approbation  of  our  good  Bishop." 

July  10  Father  Donaghoe  conveyed  to  Sister  Mary 
Margaret  in  Davenport  the  glad  tidings  that  permission 
to  despatch  Sisters  to  Chicago  had  been  obtained  from 


20  In  the  Early  Days.  Pages  from  the  Annals  of  the  History 
of  Sisters  of  Charity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  1833-1837,  St. 
Louis,  1912,  p.  200. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  205 

Bishop  Smyth  of  Dubuque,  the  ecclesiastical  Superior 
of  their  community. 

"I  have  written  by  this  post  to  Father  Damen  to  say 
that  I  have  obtained  from  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  ample  lib- 
erty to  send  him  Sisters.  So  Chicago  is  ours,  thank  God." 

In  August,  1867,  Sister  Mary  Agatha,  with  six  nuns 
began  the  educational  work  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity, 
B.  V.  M.,  in  the  Holy  Family  parish.  Pending  the 
erection  of  St.  Aloysius  school  and  convent  on  Maxwell 
Street  a  short  distance  west  of  Jefferson,  the  Sisters 
occupied  a  house  at  the  corner  of  Halsted  and  Kramer 
Streets.  St.  Stanislaus'  School  for  boys  and  girls,  within 
the  limits  of  the  future  Sacred  Heart  parish,  was  also 
entrusted  by  Father  Damen  to  their  care,  so  that  by 
1871  as  many  as  1250  children  were  being  educated 
under  their  direction. 

In  1867  came  the  Franciscan  Sisters,  who  were  to 
be  engaged  in  the  parish-schools  of  St.  Boniface's  and 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi's.  Schools  were  opened  in  1868  in 
St.  Columbkille 's  parish,  with  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St. 
Vincent  in  charge,  while  in  the  same  year  the  Dominican 
Sisters  of  the  Sinsinawa  foundation  took  in  hand  the 
schools  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  In  1870  Sisters 
of  Charity  were  conducting  the  Holy  Name  schools  and 
Sisters  of  Charity  B.  V.  M.,  those  of  St.  Stanislaus, 
subsequently  the  Sacred  Heart.  Of  the  Catholic  paro- 
chial schools  at  this  period,  those  of  the  Holy  Family 
had  by  far  the  largest  enrollment.  Attending  the  girls' 
schools  of  St.  Aloysius  and  the  Sacred  Heart  wrere  850 
and  853  pupils  respectively,  while  the  boys'  school  under 
the  management  of  Father  Andrew  0  'Neil,  S.  J.  and 
Brother  Thomas  0  'Neil,  S.  J.,  assisted  by  twenty-three 


206  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

lay-teachers,  numbered  over  2000  pupils.  All  in  all 
there  were  in  the  Fall  of  1871  twenty-one  parochial 
schools  in  Chicago,  with  an  attendance  of  nearly  10,000 
children,  the  entire  burden  of  expenses  of  the  system 
resting  entirely  on  the  Catholic  clergy  and  laity  of  the 
city. 

As  to  the  Catholic  sisterhoods  of  Chicago  they  num- 
bered eleven  in  1871,  being  in  the  approximate  order  of 
their  establishment  in  the  city  the  Sisters  of  Mercy, 
Keligious  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  Sisters 
of  St.  Benedict,  Sisters  of  Loretto,  Notre  Dame  Sisters, 
Sisters  of  St.  Francis,  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  Sisters  of 
St.  Dominic,  Sisters  of  Charity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and  Poor  Handmaids  of  Christ.21 

To  those  pioneer  institutions  of  Catholic  Chicago, 
the  Orphan  Asylum  and  Mercy  Hospital,  other  institu- 
tions of  a  charitable  and  philanthropic  character  were 
added,  especially  in  the  'sixties. 

House  of  the  The  first  house  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd 
Shepherd  i*1  Chicago  owed  its  origin  to  the  energetic  zeal  of 
Rev.  Dr.  John  McMullen.  With  three  hundred  dollars 
borrowed  from  his  brother  James,  a  resident  of  Chicago, 
he  rented  a  house  on  Pierce  Street,  later  Boston  Avenue, 
and  with  the  approval  of  Bishop  Duggan  invited  the  Sis- 
ters of  the  Good  Shepherd  of  St.  Louis  to  send  some  of 
their  number  to  open  therein  a  Magdalen  Asylum.  The 
three  Sisters  that  came  in  1859  in  answer  to  the  invita- 
tion were  at  once  charged  with  the  care  of  seven  women 
inmates  recently  pardoned  out  of  the  Bridewell.  In  his 


21  The  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  were  established  in  the  city 
during  the  period  1856-1861. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  207 

efforts  to  finance  the  new  venture,  Father  McMullen 
visited  St.  Louis  and  other  cities  of  the  Middle  West 
where  he  made  personal  appeals  for  aid,  and  in  Chicago 
itself  he  was  seen  to  beg  on  behalf  of  the  Sisters  from 
door  to  door,  on  occasion  even  purchasing  groceries  and 
carrying  them  in  a  basket  to  the  convent  when  its 
little  commuunity  was  hard  pressed  for  the  necessaries 
of  life.  In  1860  better  quarters  for  the  institution,  with 
room  for  thirty  inmates,  were  found  on  Franklin  Street 
on  the  South  Side.  Here  the  asylum  has  been  established 
only  a  short  time  when  it  was  removed  to  Market  Street 
on  the  North  Side.  A  frame  building,  which  Dr.  Mc- 
Mullen had  started  to  erect  at  the  new  location  was 
only  half  completed  when  a  fire  of  incendiary  origin 
reduced  it  to  ashes;  but  the  zealous  priest,  not  dis- 
couraged by  this  set-back,  proceeded  thereupon  to  build 
a  substantial  structure  of  brick,  which  was  to  be  the 
house  of  the  Magdalen  Asylum  until  it  in  turn  fell  a 
prey  to  the  great  conflagration  of  1871.  The  Sisters  of 
the  Good  Shepherd  all  these  years  were  conducting  the 
Magdalen  Asylum  only,  and  it  was  not  until  1866  that 
they  took  in  hand  a  Reformatory  and  Industrial  School 
for  girls.22 

In  1866  Brother  Bonaventura  Thelen,  of  the  Alexian 
Brothers,  arrived  in  Chicago.  A  letter  of  approval  of 
his  projected  work  signed  under  date  of  March  31,  1866, 
by  Bishop  Duggan  designated  him  as  a  "  professed  mem- 
ber of  the  Order  of  St.  Alexius,  founded  for  the  benefit 
of  the  aged,  poor  and  sick,  being  commissioned  by  his 
Superior  to  travel  to  America  in  order  to  extend  the 
beneficial  labors  of  his  Order  also  to  this  country." 


22  McGovERN,  Life  of  Bishop  McMullen,  pp.  128-132. 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

AYithin  six  months  he  had,  with  the  assistance  of  a 
layman,  Mr.  Wischmeyer,  established  St.  Mary's  Hos- 
pital with  a  capacity  of  eight  beds  at  North  Dearborn 
and  Schiller  Streets.  Brother  Bonaventura  's  little  com- 
munity soon  numbered  five  brothers  and  three  novices 
and  in  1868  the  Hospital  found  more  spacious  quarters 
at  546  North  Franklin  Street.  In  1899  the  institution 
changed  its  name  to  that  of  Alexian  Brothers'  Hos- 
pital.23 

In  1868  St.  Joseph's  Hospital  was  opened  by  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Vincent  in  temporary  quarters 
at  Diversey  Avenue  and  Green  Bay  Road,  which  were 
soon  exchanged  for  a  commodious  building  erected  at 
Sophia,  now  Garfield  Avenue,  and  Buiiey  Streets.  With 
a  capacity  of  only  thirty  patients  in  the  beginning,  the 
Hospital  was  enabled  after  occupying  its  new  quarters 
to  extend  considerably  the  range  of  its  benevolent  serv- 
ices. It  is  an  interesting  circumstance  that  the  two 
Catholic  hospitals  of  Chicago,  Mercy  and  St.  Joseph's, 
were  both  located  outside  the  area  ravaged  by  the 
Fire  of  1871  and  were  thus  enabled  to  continue  their 
charitable  ministrations  through  that  memorable  crisis. 

In  1865  the  German  Catholics  of  Chicago  purchased 
ten  acres  of  land  with  a  small  house  as  a  home  for  their 
orphans.  The  property  was  located  at  Rose  Hill,  then 
lying  beyond  the  northern  line  of  the  city  but  now  well 
within  the  city  limits.  The  first  children  were  received 
November  1,  1866,  and  were  cared  for  by  a  Mr.  Trauffler 
and  his  wife.  In  1867-68  a  building  was  erected  at  a 
cost  of  $8,000,  the  contractor,  a  Mr.  Ebertshauser,  lend- 


:s ANDREAS,  op.  tit.,  2:  537.    Souvenir  of  the  Golden  Jubilee 
of  the  Alexian  Brothers  at  Chicago,  1916. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  209 

ing  his  services  gratis.  The  poor  Handmaids  of  Christ 
were  subsequently  called  from  Fort  Wayne  by  Father 
Fischer,  President  of  the  Asylum  Board,  to  take  charge 
of  the  institution.  The  credit  of  having  been  the  founder 
of  the  Asylum  belongs  to  Father  Holzer,  a  Redemp- 
torist,  who  called  the  first  meeting  of  German  Catholics 
at  which  steps  were  taken  to  establish  it  and  whose 
vigilant  enterprise  pushed  the  project  forward  to  suc- 
cess.24 

All  in  all,  the  hospitals  and  asylums  of  Catholic 
Chicago  in  1871  numbered  nine,  Mercy  Hospital  on  the 
South  Side,  St.  Joseph's  and  the  Alexian  Brothers' 
Hospitals  on  the  North  Side,  the  Magdalen  Asylum  on 
North  Market  Street,  St.  Joseph's  Orphan  Asylum  at 
State  and  Superior,  the  German  Orphan  Asylum  in 
Rose  Hill,  Chicago  Reform  and  Industrial  School  in 
Bridgeport  (conducted  by  the  Christian  Brothers),  the 
House  of  Providence  on  Huron  Street,  and  the  House 
of  Providence  on  \Vabash  Avenue. 

Higher  education  for  the  Catholic  young  women  of  r°u^ 
Chicago  began  in  1846  with  the  opening  by  the  Sisters  Academies 
of  Mercy  of  St.  Xavier's  Academy.  Ten  years  later  the 
same  Sisters  established  the  branch  Academy  of  St. 
Agatha  at  Rio  Grande,  now  Twenty-sixth  Street,  and 
Calumet  Avenue,  a  boarding-school  with  an  average 
attendance  in  its  opening  year  of  fifty-two  pupils.  St. 
Paul's  select-school  for  girls  was  opened  in  1856,  also 
by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  in  a  frame  building  adjoining 
St.  Xavier's  Academy.  In  1858  the  Sisters  of  Charity 
upened  the  Academy  of  the  Holy  Name  in  a  small 
building  on  Huron  Street  near  State.  The  building 


1  BUKGLER,  op.  dt. 


210  THE  CATHOLJC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

subsequently  occupied  by  the  Academy  was  swept  away 
in  the  Fire  of  1871,  the  Academy  being  thereupon  dis- 
continued.25 In  1860  the  Religious  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
under  Mother  Galway  opened  an  Academy  on  "West 
Taylor  Street,  while  in  1867  the  Benedictine  Sisters 
added  still  further  to  the  number  of  Catholic  high- 
schools  for  girls  by  establishing  St.  Joseph's  Academy 
on  Chicago  Avenue  for  day-scholars  and  boarders. 

The  development  of  higher  education  for  the  Cath- 
o/tfttzlife  °^c  young  men  of  early  Chicago  is  identified,  we  need 
not  say  here,  with  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Lake.  Of  the  fortunes  of  that  venerable  institution 
during  the  "fifties  and  "sixties  we  shall,  accordingly, 
speak  with  some  detail.  The  beginnings  of  the  Univer- 
sity under  Bishop  Quarter  have  been  sketched  above. 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde.  as  a  man  of  scholarly  attainment 
and  much  ripe  experience  as  an  educator,  was  deeply 
interested  in  the  progress  of  the  institution  and  made 
every  effort  to  maintain  its  academic  standards  at  a 
high  level.  Difficulties,  however,  apparently  over  matters 
of  business,  arose  between  the  Bishop  and  the  pastors 
of  Holy  Name  Church,  all  of  whom  were  connected 
either  as  officials  or  professors  with  the  University. 
Father  KinsellaT  head  pastor  of  the  Holy  Name,  had 
been  President  of  the  University  since  its  inception, 
as  also  professor  of  dogmatic  theology  and  sacred  scrip- 
ture: while  of  his  assistants.  Father  dowry  was  secre- 
tary of  the  board  of  trustees  and  Fathers  Breen  and 
Hoey  were  on  the  teaching  staff.  To  remove  the  dangers 
that  now  began  to  threaten  the  moderate  measure  of 
prosperity  which  the  University  had  hitherto  enjoyed, 


History  of  Chicago,  2:  404. 


BISHOP  DUGGAX  211 

Bishop  Van  de  Velde  looked  to  a  change  of  management. 
He  accordingly  visited  Xotre  Dame  University  in  1852 
to  solicit  the  Fathers  of  the  Holy  Cross  to  assume  charge 
of  the  University.  This  well-known  Congregation  had 
been  established  by  the  venerable  Father  Edward  Sorin, 
a  Frenchman,  near  South  Bend.  Indiana,  in  the  early 
"forties,  and  Xotre  Dame  University,  the  work  of  his 
hands,  had  already  won  for  itself  a  place  of  distinction 
in  the  Catholic  educational  life  of  the  country.  But 
the  Congregation  over  which  he  presided  was  still  in 
its  merest  infancy  and  for  the  moment  at  least  in  no 
position  to  extend  its  field  of  operations.  Bishop  Van 
de  Velde  "s  offer  was  consequently  declined. 

Under  Bishop   O  "Regan,  the  controversy  with  the  rotken 
pastors  of  the  Holy  Name,  which  he  had  inherited  from  %,^Cron 
his  predecessor,  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  resignation  '»  eiarge, 
of  the  latter  from  their  parochial  charges  in  January. 
1855.  and  their  withdrawal  from  the  diocese.-6    Bishop 
O  "Regan  now  reopened  negotiations  with  the  Fathers 
of   the    Holy    Cross,    pending   which    Father   Matthew 
Dillon  was.  in  charge   of  the   University,   assisted  by 
Fathers  McLaughlin.  Hurley  and  Aylward.   A  proposal 
made  by  the  Bishop  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Holy  Cross 
to   sell   them    the    University   and   its   belongings   for 
$60.000  payable  in  twelve  installments  of  $5.000  each 
without  interest  met  at  first  with  favor  from  the  Fathers 


14  "At  the  request  of  the  Bishop,  Fathers  Kinsella.  dowry. 
Breen  and  Hoey  resigned  in  January,  1S55.  their  charge  as  priests 
of  the  Holy  Name  and  severed  their  connection  with  the  Uni- 
versity. All  four  went  East  and  offered  their  services,  three  to 
the  Bishop  of  Xew  York  and  one  to  the  Bishop  of  Trenton.  They 
were  accepted  and  in  a  short  time  were  assigned  to  positions  of 
prominence.'1  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Eerier,  2:  1-tS. 


212  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

but  was  eventually  declined.  An  invitation  to  take  over 
the  University  which  the  Bishop  extended  to  the  Jesuits 
of  St.  Louis  was  likewise  declined.  Finally,  as  the  result 
of  a  personal  visit  made  to  Notre  Dame  in  1856,  Bishop 
0  'Regan  prevailed  upon  the  Holy  Cross  Fathers  to  take 
a  fifty-year  lease  on  the  University  property  and  build- 
ings at  an  annual  rental  of  $2100.  The  lease  was  signed 
August  4,  1856.  The  Fathers  stipulated,  it  would  ap- 
pear, to  conduct  a  preparatory  day-school  only  and  not 
an  institution  of  collegiate  or  university  grade.  With 
them  also  came  to  Chicago  in  the  summer  of  1856  a 
number  of  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  to 
conduct  schools  in  St.  Joseph's  and  other  parishes  of 
the  city.  The  Brothers  took  over  the  management  of 
the  boys'  schools  of  St.  Joseph's,  St.  Patrick's  and  St. 
Mary's  parishes;  while  the  Sisters  taught  the  girls  of 
St.  Joseph's  parish,  and  opened  an  industrial  school  in 
the  University  building  and  also  a  select  school  for  girls 
in  a  brick  building  which  they  rented  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  Chicago  Avenue  and  Cass  Street. 

withdrawal  Though   professedly  only  a   preparatory   school   of 

of  Fathers       high-school  grade,  the  University  still  continued  to  give 

of  the 

Holy  Cross  the  title  of  President  to  its  principal  officer.  Father 
G.  B.  Kilroy  was  the  first  President  during  the  period 
the  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Cross  was  in  charge  of 
the  University;  and  he  was  succeeded  by  Fathers 
Shortis,  Patrick  Dillon,  James  Dillon  and  Neil  Gillespie. 
In  1857  there  were  thirty-five  students  in  attendance 
at  the  University  so-called;  by  the  end  of  1859  this 
number  had  risen  to  120.  But  the  spectre  of  financial 
distress  hovered  at  all  times  over  the  institution.  The 
panic  of  1857  added  notably  to  the  embarrassment  of 
the  Fathers.  A  collection  ordered  by  Bishop  0 'Regan 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  213 

in  all  the  churches  of  the  city  towards  helping  them  to 
pay  their  rent,  through  which  means  he  hoped  to 
realize  at  least  a  thousand  dollars,  brought  only  sixty. 
Under  his  successor,  Bishop  Duggan,  the  Fathers  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  feeling  themselves  no  longer  able  to  main- 
tain the  unequal  struggle,  resolved  to  discontinue  their 
educational  and  parochial  labors  in  Chicago,  where  their 
zeal  had  merited  general  commendation,  and  return  to 
Notre  Dame.  This  they  did  at  the  close  of  the  scholastic 
session  1860-61,  the  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  Holy 
Cross  also  withdrawing  from  the  city  at  the  same  time. 
The  Sisters  especially  had  achieved  great  popularity 
during  their  stay  in  Chicago,  as  was  witnessed  by  the 
demonstrations  of  sympathy  made  at  their  departure. 
They  were  escorted  to  the  depot  by  the  Montgomery 
Guards  with  full  band  under  command  of  Capt.  Gleeson, 
who  at  the  time  was  preparing  to  enter  the  Union  service 
with  Col.  Mulligan.27 

Two  distinct  phases  had  now  marked  the  career  of 
the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake,  one  of  ten  years 
under  the  presidency  of  Father  Kinsella,  and  one  of  five 
years  under  the  managment  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Holy  Cross.  It  was  now  to  enter  on  a  third  and  final 
phase  of  five  years'  duration.  With  the  appointment 
early  in  1861  of  Rev.  Dr.  John  McMullen  as  President, 
a  second  spring  appeared  to  dawn  on  the  sorely  tried 
institution. 

To  a  friend  in  Rome  Dr.  McMullen  wrote  on  Janu-  Dr-J°hn 

nrv   9^     1869-  McMullen, 

ary   ZD,    J»bZ.  President  of 

"I  have  four  lay-professors  associated  with  me  in  carry-    the  University 
ing  on  the  University.     We  have  about  110  students,  thirty- 
three  are  boarding  in  the  place.     The  university  is  doing  bet- 

27  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Eeview,  2 :  149. 


214  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

ter  than  I  expected  at  first  and  still  I  am  not  without  many 
difficulties,  considering  that  I  had  to  make  great  improve- 
ments in  order  to  open  it  with  decency  becoming  its  name.  I 
have  some  of  the  ablest  lay  professors  in  the  West  teaching 
for  me." 

The  University  buildings  at  this  period  comprised 
the  original  frame  structure  dating  from  Bishop  Quar- 
ter's time  and  a  two-story  edifice  of  brick  on  the  Chi- 
cago Avenue  side  of  the  property  which  included  the 
entire  square  bounded  by  Chicago  Avenue,  State,  Supe- 
rior and  Cass  Streets.  To  provide  quarters  adequate 
to  the  increasing  number  of  the  students,  a  new  and 
spacious  building  of  brick  was  planned,  the  corner- 
stone being  laid  by  Bishop  Duggan  on  July  4,  1863. 
Occupied  by  the  students  February  1,  1864,  the  new 
building,  of  which  only  the  south  wing  was  actually 
erected,  at  once  attracted  public  notice  as  a  type  of  the 
best  school-construction  of  the  day.  ' '  There  is  no  build- 
ing for  educational  purposes  in  the  state,"  commented 
one  of  the  local  prints,  ' '  better  arranged  or  more  appro- 
priately fitted  out, '  '28 

To  make  the  University  over  which  he  presided  such 
in  reality  as  well  as  in  name  became  now  the  ambition 
of  Dr.  McMullen.  By  the  beginning  of  the  session  1863- 
1864  the  institution  had  been  organized  on  a  strictly 
university  basis,  having  affiliated  to  it  professional 
schools  of  law,  medicine  and  divinity.  Among  the  in- 
structors in  law  were  Judges  Booth,  Wilson  and  Good- 
rich, while  the  noted  physician,  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard, 
filled  the  post  of  dean  of  the  staff  of  medicine.  The 
school  of  medicine  was  indeed  none  other  than  the  pio- 
neer institution  of  medical  instruction  in  Chicago,  Rush 


'Chicago  Tribune,  January  28,  1864. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  215 

Medical  College,  in  the  building  of  which,  a  few  blocks 
distant  from  the  University,  all  medical  classes  were  con- 
ducted. The  Rector  of  the  Theological  Department  or 
Seminary  was  Father  James  McGovern,  D.  D.,  who  also 
lectured  on  Holy  Scripture  and  Ecclesiastical  History. 
Dr.  McMullen  and  later  Father  P.  W.  Riordan,  the 
future  Archbishop  of  San  Francisco,  occupied  the  chair 
of  Dogmatic  Theology  and  Father  T.  J.  Butler  that  of 
Moral  Theology,  while  Father  Roles  was  spiritual  di- 
rector of  the  seminarians.  In  the  undergraduate  depart- 
ment or  School  of  Arts  and  Sciences  instruction  was 
imparted  by  Drs.  McMullen  and  McGovern,  assisted  by 
a  numerous  staff  of  lay-professors.29 

Lending  prestige  to  the  University  was  the  publica- 
tion under  its  auspices  of  "the  Month,"  a  Catholic 
monthly  magazine  established  by  Dr.  McMullen,  Janu- 
ary 1,  1865,  under  the  editorship  of  Mr.  Peter  Foote  of 
the  University  staff.  It  was  at  the  time  one  of  the  few 
Catholic  periodicals  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States, 
if  not  the  only  one,  Brownson's  Review  having  been 
discontinued  a  few  months  before.  A  number  of  con- 
tributions from  the  pen  of  Dr.  McMullen  appeared  in 
its  pages;  but  it  ran  only  one  year,  lack  of  patronage 
making  it  necessary  to  suspend  publication.30 

Though  destined  apparently  to  carry  on  with  sue-   The 
cess  the  cause  of  Catholic  education  in  the  Middle  West,    Universitv 

closed, 

the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake  succumbed  in 


20  ANDREAS,  History  of  Chicago,  1:  298. 

30  McGovERN,  Life  of  Bishop  McMullen.  According  to  An- 
DREAS,  op.  cit.,  2:  405,  Father  Roles,  while  pastor  of  the  Holy 
Name  Church,  1862-1868,  edited  and  published  the  first  Catholic 
illustrated  Sunday-school  paper  in  the  city.  The  Sunday  School 
Messenger  of  the  Holy  Family  Parish,  Chicago,  dates  from  1867. 


216  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

the  end  to  the  financial  embarrassment  under  which  it 
had  had  to  struggle  steadily  from  its  birth.  With  dra- 
matic suddenness  it  closed  its  doors  early  in  1866. 
Though  collections  made  by  Dr.  McMullen  in  the  par- 
ishes of  the  diocese  netted  $3,000,  there  remained  obli- 
gations amounting  to  $6,000  that  apparently  could  not 
be  met.  The  indefatigable  Doctor,  than  whom  no  one 
could  have  battled  more  perseveringly  to  keep  the  insti- 
tution alive,  broke  down  and  Avept  as  he  disclosed  to  the 
faculty  the  financial  straits  of  the  University  and  its 
inability  under  the  circumstances  to  continue  its  work. 
The  Seminary  was  maintained  until  1868  when  it  was 
closed  by  Bishop  Duggan.  The  University  buildings 
were  thereupon  made  to  house  the  Orphan  Asylum,  with 
the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  in  charge.31 

If  the  noble-hearted  Dr.  McMullen,  whose  services 
to  religion  and  education  the  Holy  See  was  later  to  rec- 
ognize by  naming  him  the  first  incumbent  of  the  See  of 
Davenport  had  thus  to  taste  the  bitterness  of  failure  in 
the  most  cherished  of  his  plans,  it  was  not  for  lack  of 
vision  of  the  magnificence  of  the  field  which  Chicago 
offered  for  a  Catholic  institution  of  University  type. 
' '  Of  all  places, ' '  he  declared,  l '  the  great  city  of  Chicago 
was  and  is  the  place  for  such  an  institution.  It  is  the 
heart  of  the  West,  the  most  enterprising,  the  most  pro- 
gressive, the  most  American  of  all  the  geographical  divi- 
sions of  our  grand  Republic,  and  with  its  vast  Catholic 
population  it  ought  to  have  lifted  up  the  torch  for  all 
of  us." 


"I  shall  send  you  some  copies  of  a  child's  paper  which  Father 

Roles  is  getting  up  to  come  out  every  month I  do  not  think 

there  is  a  paper  of  this  sort  for  children  in  the  country."     Mc- 
GOVERN,  Life  and  Letters  of  Eliza  Allen  Starr,  p.  191. 
31  McGovERN,  Life  of  Bishop  McMullen. 


BISHOP  DUGGAN  217 

In  the  'sixties  education  of  a  grade  higher  than  that  Christian 
of  the  grammar  school  began  to  be  supplied  to  the  Brothers 
Catholic  boys  of  Chicago  by  the  Brothers  of  the  Chris- 
tian Schools,  who  came  to  the  city  in  1861.  Their 
Academy  at  99  East  Van  Buren  Street  offered  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  business  and  commercial  education,  which 
was  later  brought  within  the  reach  of  the  West  Side 
boys  by  the  establishment  of  St.  Patrick's  Academy. 
At  a  period  beyond  the  limits  of  this  narrative  they 
were  to  found  the  De  La  Salle  Institute  on  the  South 
Side,  which  has  achieved  a  success  known  to  all  in  the 
cause  of  Christian  education.32 

To  offer  to  the  Catholic  youth  of  Chicago  oppor-  st.  Ignatius 
tunities  for  a  classical  education,  the  Jesuits  opened 
St.  Ignatius  College  on  West  Twelfth  Street.  Classes 
were  first  held  September  5,  1870.  A  spacious  and  im- 
posing structure  of  brick,  four  stories  in  height  and 
costing  over  $200,000,  housed  the  institution,  which  owed 
its  origin  chiefly  to  the  zealous  enterprise  of  the  well- 
known  Jesuit  missionary,  Father  Arnold  Damen.  As 
the  only  institution  in  Chicago  offering  instruction  in 
the  classics  at  the  hands  of  professional  Catholic  edu- 
cators, it  soon  won  for  itself  a  place  of  distinction  in 
the  Catholic  educational  life  of  the  city.  Founded  at 
a  time  when  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake 
had  but  lately  closed  its  doors,  St.  Ignatius  College 


32  The  first  school  in  Chicago  taught  by  the  Christian  Brothers 
was  St.  Patrick's  parish-school  for  boys.  Later  they  took  charge 
of  St.  Mary's  School.  "During  this  month  (on  the  15th)  Chris- 
tian Brothers  took  possession  of  the  new  school  on  Van  Buren 
and  4th  Avenue,  preparatory  to  the  opening  of  it  for  the  children 
of  the  parish  on  the  2nd  of  September,  1868."  Note  in  Bap- 
tismal Register,  St.  Mary's  Church,  Chicago. 


218  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

became  the  timely  successor  of  that  venerable  institution 
in  dispensing  to  the  youth  of  Chicago  the  advantages 
of  higher  Catholic  education. 

The  latter  days  of  Bishop  Duggan's  administration 
were  clouded  by  the  unfortunate  controversies  that  arose 
between  him  and  certain  influential  members  of  his 
clergy.  Only  after  a  long-drawn  out  and  painful  period 
of  misunderstanding  and  dissension  was  the  variable- 
ness of  purpose  which  the  Bishop  betrayed  in  his  man- 
agement of  affairs  recognized  as  a  premonitory  stage  of 
complete  mental  collapse.  Suspicion  of  the  true  nature 
of  the  malady  having  been  aroused  after  the  prelate's 
return  to  Chicago  from  the  Second  Council  of  Baltimore 
in  1866,  he  was  advised  by  his  physician  to  seek  relaxa- 
tion in  a  European  trip.  A  stay  at  Carlsbad  in  Austria 
failed  to  produce  the  hoped-for  results  and  the  Bishop 
returned  unimproved  to  the  United  States,  where  the 
advance  of  his  disease  made  it  necessary  to  confine  him. 
He  was  accordingly  sent  to  an  institution  conducted  by 
the  Sisters  of  Charity  on  the  outskirts  of  St.  Louis, 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days,  dying  as  late 
as  1899.33 

The  tragic  denouement  of  Bishop  Duggan  's  episcopal 
career,  so  rich  in  its  early  days  in  achievement  for  the 
diocese  of  Chicago,  was  deeply  deplored  by  clergy  and 
laity  alike  and  by  a  sort  of  spontaneous  accord  it  was 
felt  on  all  sides  that  the  recent  unhappy  controversies 
should  be  suffered  to  lapse  into  well-deserved  oblivion. 


33  SHEA,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States; 
McGovERN,  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago,  196-210;  McGovERN,  Life 
of  Bishop  MoMullen. 


Et.  Eev.  Thomas  Foley,  fifth  Bishop  (Coadjutor  Bishop  and  Adminis- 
trator) of  the  Diocese  of  Chicago  (1870-1879).  A  native  of  Baltimore  in 
Maryland,  he  was  the  first  Bishop  of  Chicago  born  in  America.  His 
episcopate  was  marked  by  the  great  Fire  of  1871  and  the  critical  period 
consequent  thereon,  through  which  he  conducted  the  Church  in  Chicago 
with  the  utmost  charity  and  resourcefulness,  laying  anew  the  foundations 
on  which  was  to  be  reared  the  splendid  fabric  of  Catholicism  in  that  city 
today.  His  death  in  the  full  tide  of  pastoral  achievement  occurred  on 
February  19,  1879. 


CHAPTER  IX 


BISHOP  FOLEY  AND  THE  FIRE  OF  1871 


On  March  10,  1870,  Bishop  Thomas  Foley  was  in-  Bishop  Foley> 

Administrator 

stalled  in  the  church  of  the  Holy  Name,  the  pro-Cathe-  oftjie 
dral,  as  successor  to  Bishop  Duggan  in  the  see  of  Chi-  Diocese 
cago,  amid  very  cordial  manifestations  of  good-will  and 
satisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the 
city.  Bishop  Foley  was  a  native  of  Baltimore,  where  he 
was  born  of  immigrant  Irish  parents,  March  6,  1822.  A 
graduate  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  from  St.  Mary's  Col- 
lege, Baltimore,  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen,  a  priest  at 
twenty-four,  pastor  for  twenty-one  years  at  the  Balti- 
more Cathedral,  and  in  turn  Chancellor,  Vicar-General 
and  Administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Baltimore,  he  had 
discharged  with  satisfaction  the  various  important  du- 
ties committed  to  him  and  with  a  very  distinguished 
record  of  clear  judgment,  scholarship  and  experience 
in  church  affairs  thus  to  his  credit,  gave  promise  of  fill- 
ing still  higher  ecclesiastical  positions  with  eminent  suc- 
cess. So  it  was  that  the  Holy  See  turned  to  him  as  one 
who  could  be  trusted  to  take  up  and  wield  with  delicacy 
and  tact  to  the  edification  of  all  the  reins  of  administra- 
tion that  had  fallen  from  the  hands  of  Bishop  Duggan. 
Having  in  November,  1869,  been  appointed  Bishop  of 
Pergamus  in  partibus  infidelium,  Coadjutor-Bishop  and 
Administrator  of  the  Diocese  of  Chicago  cum  jure  suces- 
sionis,  he  was  consecrated  February  27,  1870,  in  the 

219 


220  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN   CHICAGO 

Cathedral  of  Baltimore,  by  Bishop  McCloskey  of  Louis- 
ville. 

"Peace  be  to  you"  was  the  text  of  the  sermon  which 
Bishop  Foley  addressed  to  the  congregation  that  gath- 
ered in  the  pro-Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Name  on  the 
occasion  of  his  installation ;  and  a  notable  sermon  it  was, 
all  aglow  with  exquisite  charity  and  priestly  zeal  and 
revealing  beyond  mistake  in  its  eloquent  sentences  the 
great  heart  and  superior  mind  of  the  man  who  had  come 
to  direct  the  destinies  of  the  Catholic  church  in  Chicago. 

"Now  I  wish  again  to  repeat  the  words  of  our  Lord  and 
Savior,  may  his  grace  abide  with  you.  I  hope  that  in  the 
power  of  God  this  diocese  which  already  holds  so  high  a  place, 
which  has  so  vast  a  population  and  is  destined  if  not  to  be  the 
first  at  least  to  be  the  second  in  the  country ;  this  diocese  which 
has  such  vast  material  wealth  and  such  a  number  of  souls 
within  its  limits,  shall  grow  in  grace  and  power.  This  shall 
claim  my  careful  attention  and  while  I  live  and  am  with  you, 
whatever  I  can  do  shall  be  freely,  entirely  and  cheerfully 
given  to  Chicago." 

The  pre-eminent  fitness  of  Bishop  Foley  for  the  posi- 
tion to  which  he  had  been  called  was  amply  demon- 
strated as  his  episcopate  ran  its  course.  New  parishes 
were  organized  and  churches  built,  new  institutions  of 
charity  and  benevolence  sprang  up  on  every  side,  while 
an  atmosphere  of  Christian  kindliness  and  forbearance 
spread  out  from  the  great-hearted  prelate  and  settled 
over  the  entire  diocese. 

Fire  of  1871  Bishop  Foley  was  in  the  first  flush  of  his  zeal  for  the 

restoration  of  all  things  in  Christ  when  a  disaster  of 
overwhelming  proportions  visited  the  chief  city  of  his 
diocese.  From  10  o'clock  on  Sunday  evening,  October 
9,  1871,  to  6  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  following  day, 


BISHOP  FOLEY  AND  THE  FIRE  OF  1871  221 

a  span  of  only  twenty-one  hours,  a  fire  of  quite  uncon- 
trollable character  spread  over  Chicago,  sweeping  away 
the  entire  business  district  of  the  city  and  thousands  of 
residences  and  leaving  in  its  wake  of  destruction  a  loss 
in  buildings,  merchandise  and  household  effects  esti- 
mated at  $200,000,000.  A  great  part  of  the  material 
equipment  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Chicago  in 
churches,  schools  and  institutions,  representing  years  of 
self-sacrificing  toil  and  generosity  on  the  part  of  clergy 
and  laity,  was  involved  in  the  common  disaster.  St. 
Paul's  Church  and  parish  buildings,  at  Clinton  and 
Mather,  distant  only  a  few  blocks  from  the  starting- 
point  of  the  fire,  soon  fell  before  the  advancing  flames. 
As  the  conflagration  pursued  its  undisputed  march  to- 
wards the  northern  limits  of  the  city,  were  destroyed 
St.  Louis's  Church  and  Parsonage  on  Sherman  Street, 
the  Christian  Brothers'  Academy  on  Van  Buren  Street, 
the  Convent  and  Schools  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  on 
Wabash  Avenue,  St.  Mary's  Cathedral,  the  original  St. 
Mary's  of  frame  built  by  Father  St.  Cyr,  the  Bishop's 
residence  at  Michigan  Avenue  and  Madison  Street,  the 
Holy  Name  Church,  the  House  of  Providence,  the  Acad- 
emy of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  St.  Joseph's  Orphan 
Asylum,  formerly  the  University  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Lake,  the  Christian  Brothers'  Parochial  School,  the  Ben- 
edictine Convent,  St.  Joseph's  Church  at  Chicago  Ave- 
nue and  Cass  Street,  the  Magdalen  Asylum,  the  Church 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  and  St.  Michael 's  Church 
with  schools  and  other  parish  buildings  attached  to  these 
churches.  The  total  loss  in  Catholic  church  property 
was  estimated  at  $1,000,000. 

For  the  moment  Chicago  stood  dazed  and  even  para- 
lyzed at  the  extent  of  the  calamity ;  but  for  the  moment 


222  THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 

only.  Presently  the  indomitable  spirit  of  the  metropolis 
asserted  itself  and  plans  for  a  greater,  a  richer,  a  more 
splendid  Chicago  were  already  taking  shape  in  the  minds 
of  its  citizens  before  the  last  embers  of  the  great  con- 
flagration had  smouldered  away.  Bishop  Foley  was 
absent  on  a  confirmation-trip  to  Champaign,  Illinois,  on 
the  fateful  Sunday  and  Monday  of  the  fire;  and  he 
returned  to  Chicago  only  to  find  the  splendid  shrines 
of  worship  and  monuments  of  Christian  charity  reared 
under  his  predecessors  levelled  to  the  ground,  thousands 
of  Catholic  families  homeless  and  impoverished  and  a 
condition  of  acute  distress  among  a  large  part  of  his 
flock  that  called  for  instant  relief.  With  characteristic 
courage  he  set  himself  to  the  task  in  hand.  Food,  cloth- 
ing and  money  with  which  to  relieve  the  urgent  needs 
of  the  victims  of  the  fire  were  not  to  be  had  in  sufficient 
quantity  at  home;  and  appeals  were  therefore  made  to 
the  Catholics  of  the  country.  To  Eliza  Allen  Starr,  the 
distinguished  convert,  Dr.  McMullen,  pastor  of  Holy 
Name  Church,  wrote  October  14  from  St.  Patrick's, 
where  he  had  taken  refuge  after  his  own  church  had 
been  laid  in  ashes: 

"I  need  not  tell  you  that  you  were  often  in  my  thoughts. 
I  have  met  most  of  my  people  and  have  been  able  to  do  some- 
thing to  relieve  them.  I  have  been  very  busy  in  procuring 
and  distributing  supplies.  Busy  as  ever  in  my  life.  This  eve- 
ning I  leave  with  Father  P.  W.  Riordan  for  New  York;  we 
will  collect  through  New  York  and  New  England;  Dr.  Butler 
with  another  takes  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania;  Father  Roles 
goes  to  the  Pacific  Coast;  others  to  Cincinnati  and  others  to 
St.  Louis."1 


1  McGovERN,  Life  of  Bishop  McMullen. 


BISHOP  FOLEY  AND  THE  FIRE  OF   1871  223 

The  plight  to  which  a  prosperous  and  high-spirited  Conclu8ion 
city  had  suddenly  been  reduced  by  a  great  calamity 
touched  the  heart  of  the  nation  and  relief  sufficient  to 
temper  the  worst  features  of  the  crisis  was  soon  flowing 
in  from  every  quarter.  Catholic  response  to  the  call  for 
help  was  prompt  and  generous  and  in  no  long  time  the 
Catholics  of  Chicago,  under  the  leadership  of  the  indom- 
itable Bishop  Foley,  the  man  of  the  hour,  were  heart- 
ened to  look  around  them  and  plan  for  the  restoration 
of  the  Church  to  something  of  its  pristine  splendor.  But 
here  we  must  end.  The  story  of  the  new  Catholic  Chi- 
cago, risen  on  the  ashes  of  the  old  to  a  splendor  of 
growth  and  prosperity  utterly  undreamt  of  fifty  years 
ago,  falls  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  narrative. 
Under  a  succession  of  prelates  as  zealously  enterprising 
and  efficient  as  ever  led  a  Catholic  diocese  along  the 
paths  of  progress,  Foley,  Feehan,  Quigley  and  Munde- 
lein,  the  march  of  the  new  Catholicity  in  Chicago  has 
been  one  of  steady  and  triumphant  advance.  Where  so 
much  has  been  achieved,  the  imagination  loves  to  dwell 
on  the  historical  landmarks  that  emphasize  the  nothing- 
ness from  which  the  start  was  made.  Two  hundred  and 
forty-seven  years  ago  Father  Jacques  Marquette  offered 
the  first  Holy  Sacrifice  on  the  wind-swept  prairie  that 
has  since  become  Chicago.  Two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
years  ago,  Father  Francis  Pinet,  the  first  resident  priest, 
was  ministering  in  his  little  Indian  chapel  at  the  forks 
of  the  river.  Eighty-eight  years  ago  when  Father  St.  Cyr 
arrived  in  Chicago  to  build  the  first  parish  church,  he 
found  the  Catholics  of  the  place  numbering  but  a  paltry 
two  hundred.  Eleven  years  later  when  Bishop  Quarter 
took  possession  of  the  newly-erected  see  of  Chicago,  St. 
Mary's  parish,  with  its  two  attendant  priests,  was  still 


224 

the  only  one  in  the  city.  Fifty  years  ago,  when  the 
Great  Fire  came  in  the  guise  of  a  calamity  to  mark 
the  passing  of  the  old  and  the  birth  of  the  new  Chicago, 
there  were  in  the  city  twenty-four  parishes,  twenty-two 
parish  schools,  fifty-five  priests  of  the  secular  and  reg- 
ular clergy,  and  a  Catholic  population  of  probably  a 
hundred  thousand.  Today,  seventy-eight  years  since  the 
erection  of  the  diocese  of  Chicago,  the  Catholic  Church 
in  that  city  counts  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  par- 
ishes, five  hundred  and  more  priests  of  the  secular  and 
regular  clergy  and  over  a  million  communicants.  Few 
pages  in  the  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  any  coun- 
try furnish  a  more  amazing  illustration  of  the  growth 
of  the  proverbial  mustard-seed  to  a  tree  of  vast  and 
over-shadowing  proportions. 


I  N  D  EX 


INDEX 


A. 

Albrecht,  Father  Philip,  197 
Alexian  Brothers'  Hospital,  207 
Allouez,  S.  J.,  Father  Claude, 

10-11 

Amiot,  Louis,  27 
Annunciation  parish,  199 
Apgood,  Dexter,  46 
Arnold,  I.  K,  186 
Aylward,  Father  M.,  211 


Badin,  Father  Stephen  T.,  at 
Chicago  (1830),  31,  32;  al- 
leged visits  of  1796  and  1822 
to,  note,  32-35;  land  prom- 
ised by  Indians  to,  54,  60 ; 
Bishop  Quarter 's  Seminary, 
116 

Bailly,  Esther,  97 

Baltes,  Bishop,  117 

Baltimore,  Chicago  in  diocese 
of,  28 

Bardstown,  Chicago  in  diocese 
of,  28 

Barrett,  Father  Stephen,  201 

Beaubien,  Alexander,  32,  34,  35, 
98 

Beaubien,  Caroline,  97 

Beaubien,  Charles  H.,  62 

Beaubien,  George,  97 

Beaubien,  Jean  Baptiste,  Chi- 
cago pioneer, ' '  Dean  House, ' ' 
home  of,  30;  land-claim,  37- 


39;  signs  petition  for  priest, 
45;  offers  site  for  first  Cath- 
olic Church,  49,  63;  per- 
forms marriage-ceremony, 
98;  offers  lots  for  school, 
103 

Beaubien,  Josette  Laframboise, 
wife  of  J.  B.  Beaubien,  68, 
97,  98 

Beaubien,  Julia,  32 
Beaubien,    Mark,    Chicago    pi- 
oneer, 39;  signs  petition  for 
priest,  45 ;    St.  Cyr  guest  of, 
63;     Sauganash    Hotel,    87; 
named  in  baptismal  register, 
97 
Beaubien,    Medard     (Madore), 

91 

Beaubien,  Monique,  32 
Beaubien,  Robert,  98 
Beaubiens  of  Detroit,  note,  38 
Benedictines,  194-195,  197 
Binneteau,  S.  J.,  Father,  15-17, 

19 

Bissell,  Governor,  181 
Bourassa,  Daniel,  39,  99 
Bourassa,  Leon,  45 
Bourbonnois,  Francis,  97 
Braner    (Brennan?), — ,    99 
Breen,  Father  J.,  210-211 
Brodeur,  J.  B.,  46 
Brotherhoods : 

Brothers,  Alexian,  207 
Brothers     of     the     Christian 
Schools,  209,  217 


227 


228 


INDEX 


Brothers  of  the  Holy  Cross, 
212 

Brute,  Bishop,  baptizes  in  Chi- 
cago,    26,     104;     appointed 
Bishop  of  Vincennes,  71-77; 
writes    to    Eosati    about    St. 
Cyr,  74,  76,  77,  99,  100,  101 ; 
letters  in  archives,  75;  writes 
about   Chicago   in  Cincinnati 
Catholic   Telegraph,   81,   83; 
visitation  of  Chicago  (1838), 
103;   death,  104;  interest  in 
history    of    Mississippi    Val- 
ley, note,  195 
Bulf's  Head,  173 
Burke,  Father  T.,  183,  191 
Butler,  Father  P.  T.,  199 
Butler,    Father    Thaddeus    J., 
183,   184,  185,  186,   192,  222 


Caldwell,  Billy,  Potawatomi 

Chief,  39,  40,  41,  56,  89,  99 
Caton,  Dean,  87 
Catholic  Institute,  181,  182 
Cemeteries,  Catholic ;  first  ceme- 
tery, 107;  Calvary,  168 
Condamine,  Father  Matthew,  80 
Charlevoix,  S.  J.,  Father  Fran- 

gois,  22 

Chassut.  Jacques,  5 
Cheka,  Father  W.,  202 
Chevalier,  Catherine,  41 
Chicago,  missionary  visitors  to, 
Marquette,  2-9;  Allouez,  10; 
Gravier,   11 ;    Membre,  Cave- 
lier  de  la  Salle,  Douay,  12; 
Pinet,  13-20 ;  Montigny,  Dav- 
ion,  St.  Cosme,  14-19 ;   Rich- 
ard,    29-31;     Badin,     31-36; 
Catholic  population  in  1833, 
37;     Catholics    petition    for 
priest,  45-47;  Protestant  de- 


nominations in  early,  52;  St. 
Cyr's  ministry  (1833-37),  see 
St.  Cyr,  Father ;  pioneer 
schools,  62;  described  by 
Brute,  80,  83,  103;  Quarter 
praises  citizens  of,  109;  be- 
ginnings of  Catholic  educa- 
tion in,  112-119;  early  par- 
ishes, 119-124;  145-150,  188- 
202;  first  parochial  schools, 
150-154;  orphan-asylum,  154- 
157;  Mercy  Hospital,  158- 
160;  Jesuit  parish,  169-178; 
Catholic  lay-activities,  181, 
182 ;  Catholic  patriotism  in 

Civil  War,  183-188 ;  sisterhoods, 
202-206;  asylums  and  hos- 
pitals, 206-209 ;  Catholic 
higher  education  for  women, 
209-210,  for  men,  210-218; 
Fire  of  1871,  220-222 

Chevalier,  Josette,  99 

Chevalier,  Louis,  45,  99 

Chevalier,  Pierre,  89 

Christian  Brothers,  209,  217 

Clark,  Margaret,  98 

Clowry,  Father  William,  210- 
211 

Cote,  Father  Jacob,  198 

Council  Bluffs,  Chicago  Potawa- 
tomi at,  88 

Cumberland  House,  154 

Cummiskey,  Father  James,  129 

D 

Damen,  S.  J.,  Father  A.,  169- 
178,  198,  203-204 

Davion,  Father,  15,  16,  17 

De  Andreis,  C.  M.,  Father 
Felix,  78 

De  Maria,  S.  J.,  Father  Fran- 
cis, 111 

Deseille,  Father,  53 


INDEX 


229 


De  Smet,  S.  J.,  Father  Pierre, 
89,  169 

Desplat,  Bazille,  46 

Dillon,  C.  S.  C.,  Father  James, 
212 

Dillon,  Father  Matthew,  9,  211 

Diversey,  Michael,  note,  123, 
147,  188 

Donaghoe,  Father  Terence  J., 
203,  204 

Douay,  Father  Anastasius, 
Recollect,  at  Chicago  (1688), 
12 

Druyts,  S.  J.,  Father  John,  173, 
175,  176 

Du  Bourg,  Bishop,  78 

Duggan,  Bishop,  appointed  to 
see  of  Chicago,  180;  Cath- 
olic lay-activities,  181-182 ; 
Catholics  and  Civil  War,  133- 
188;  new  parishes,  188-202; 
Catholic  sisterhoods  and  par- 
ish schools,  202-206;  asylums 
and  hospitals,  206-209;  high- 
er education  for  women,  209- 
210;  higher  education  for 
men,  210-218 ;  illness  and  re- 
tirement, 218. 

Dumas,  S.  J.,  Father,  in  vicin- 
ity of  Chicago  (1728),  22 

Dunne,  Father  Dennis,  183, 184, 
185 

Du  Pontavice,  Father  Hippoly- 
tus,  106 

Dupuy,  Father  E.,  77 

Durocher,  J.  B.,  46 

E 

Education,  Catholic : 
University 

University  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Lake,  112-116,  151/210-216 
College 

St.  Ignatius  College,  217 


Academies 

St.  Agatha's,  160,  209 

Christian  Brothers,  207 

Holy  Name,  209 

St.  Joseph's,  210 

Sacred  Heart,  203,  210 

St.  Paul's,  209 

St.  Xavier's,  117-119,  209 
Parish  Schools,  231 
Edwards,  Father  Thomas,  200 
Edwards,  Father  William,  192 


Fink,  O.  S.  B.,  Bishop,  194,  195 

Finlay,  John  Huston,  quoted,  5 

Fire  of  1871,  220-223 

Fischer,  Father,  204 

Fischer,  Father  Francis,  107, 
127 

Fitzmaurice,  Father  C.,  66 

Flaget,  Bishop,  mentions  Chi- 
cago in  address  to  Holy  See, 
p.  28;  writes  to  St.  Cyr,  59; 
character-sketch  of  Brute, 

75 ;  consecrates  Brute,  77 ; 
writes  about  St.  Cyr,  79,  80 

Foley,  Bishop,  appointed  Ad- 
ministrator of  Chicago,  219 ; 
installation,  220;  Fire  of 
1871,  220-222 

Foote,  Peter,  215 

Force,  C.  SS.  C.,  Father,  194 

Fortmann,  Father  Henry,  188 

Francheres,  Louis,  46 

Franciscans,  193 

French  Catholics,  149-150,  198 
G 

Galena,  67 

Galway,  Madame,  202 

German  Catholics,  German 
name  in  petition  of  1833,  46 ; 
Father  B.  Schaefer,  first  Ger- 
man-speaking priest  (q.  v.)  ; 


230 


INDEX 


first  German  name  in  St. 
Mary's  register,  98;  Father 
M.  Kundig  holds  services  for, 
102;  efforts  of  Bishop  Quar- 
ter on  behalf  of,  120-123, 
first  churches,  St.  Peter's  and 
St.  Joseph's,  123-124;  popu- 
lation in  Illinois,  note,  124; 
St.  Michael's,  146;  St.  Fran- 
cis of  Assissi's,  147,  148, 
201;  new  St.  Peter's,  148, 
192;  in  Civil  War,  note,  188; 
growth  of  St.  Peter's,  St. 
Joseph's,  St.  Michael's,  (192 
197;  St.  Boniface's,  197; 
orphan  asylum,  208 
Gillespie,  C.  S.  C.,  Father  Neil, 

194,  212 

Grogan,  Father  John,  189 
Grogan,  Father  J.  J.,  201 
Gravier,  S.  J.,  Father  Jacques, 

at  Chicago    (1700),  11 
Guarie,  24 

H 

Hailandiere,  Bishop  de  la,  90, 
105 

Halligan,  Father  T.  J.,  200 

Hatala,  Father  Aloysius,  195 

Heald,  Captain,  44 

Hondorf,  John,  46 

Henui,  Bishop,  164 

Hibernian  Benevolent  Emigra- 
tion Society,  130 

Hoey,  Father  Louis,  149,  210- 
211 

Hogan,  John  S.  C.,  46 

Holy  Cross,  Brothers  of  the,  212 

Holy  Cross  Fathers,  193-194, 
211,  212 

Holy  Family  parish,  169-178 

Holy  Name  parish,  see  Par- 
ishes, Chicago 


Holzer,  C.  SS.  E.,  Father,  209 
Hospitals : 

Alexian  Brothers',  207 

Mercy,  158-160 

St.  Joseph's,  208 
House  of  Providence,  209 
Hughes,  Bishop,  109,  136 
Hubbard,    Gurdon    S.,    28,    32, 

33 
Hurley,  Father,  211 


Immaculate  Conception  parish, 

191,  192 

Ingoldsby,  Father  John,  111 
Ireland,     Archbishop,     quoted, 

note,  69,  117 
Irish  Brigade,  185,  188 
Irish  names,  petition  of   1833, 

45;     St.     Mary's     baptismal 

register,  97 


Jaegle,  O.  S.  B.,  Father  Mein- 
rad,  194 

Jesuits,  first  priests  in  Chicago, 
1-23;  Holy  Family  parish, 
169-178;  St.  Stanislaus  (Sa- 
cred Heart)  parish,  198;  St. 
Ignatius  College,  217 

Joliet,  discovers  Mississippi,  2 

Joiitel,  at  Chicago  (1688),  12 

Juneau,  Josette  Vieau,  wife  of 
Solomon  Juneau,  68,  97 

Juneau,  Marguerite,  97 

Juneau,  Matilda,  98 

Jung,  Father  John  120,  123, 
193 

Juskiewicz.,  Father  Joseph,  200 

K 

Kaiser,  Father  Eusebius,  195 
Keeney,  Father  Edward,  191 


INDEX 


231 


Kelly,  Father  Thomas  F.,  185, 

189,  190 

Kenrick,  Archbishop,  163,  164 
Kilroy,  C.  S.  C.,  Father  C.  B., 

194,  212 
Kinsella,  Father  Jeremiah,  1.1, 

112,  130,  132,  210,  211 
Kinzie,      Harriet      Gwenthlean, 

104 

Kinzie,  John  24 
Kinzie  ' '  Mansion, ' '  25 
Kinzie,  Robert,  26,  98,  104 
Kopp,    Father    Anthony,     147, 

193 

Kroemer,  Father  A.,  147 
Kundig,    Father    Martin,    102, 

120 

L 

La  Compte,  Madame,  23 
Laframboise,  Alexis,  45 
Laframboise,    Claude,    39,    45, 

88 
Laframboise,  Joseph,  39,  45,  56; 

97 
Laframboise    (Beaubien),    Jos- 

ette,  see  Beaubien,  Josette  L. 
Lalumiere,  Father  Simon,  78 
Lang,  Father  A.,  197 
La  Salle,  at  Chicago  (1681),  12 
La    Salle,    Father   Cavelier   De 

La,  at  Chicago   (1688),  12 
Lebel,  Father  J.  A.,  150 
Le  Mai,  Francis,  24,  26 
Le  Clerc  (Claire),  Pierre  (Pier- 

ish),  note,  39,  45 
Levadoux,  Father  Michael,  29 
Leyden,  Father  Thomas,  199 
Liermann,  Father,  124 
Lincoln,    Abraham,    alleged 

Catholicity  of,  69,  70 
Loisel,  Father  Regis,  77 
Lutz,  Father  Joseph,  47,  85,  86 
Lyons,  Father  Michael,  200 


M 

Mackiuac,  Chicago  mentioned 
in  baptismal  register  of,  27 

Magdalen  Asylum,  207-208 

Mager,  C.  S.  C.,  Father  John 
B.,  194 

Mann,  John,  45 

M  a  r  q  u  e  1 1  e  ,  S.  J.,  Father 
James,  discovers  Missis- 
sippi, 2;  winters  at  Chicago, 
3-9 ;  death  of,  10 

Marquette  cross,  5 

Marschall,  Father  J.,  197 

McDonnell,  Charles,  129,  130 

McElhearne,  Father  Michaci, 
131,  132,  133 

McGirr,  Dr.,  132.  134 

McGorisk,  Father  Bernard,  112, 
127 

McGovern,  D.  D.,  Father  James, 
215 

McLaughlin,  Father  P.  J.,  120 

McMahan,  Father  P.,  127 

McMullan,  Father  J.  B.,  117, 
178,  183,  184,  185,  187,  201, 
206,  213,  216 

Melcher,  Very  Rev.  J.,  163 

Membre,  Father  Zenobe,  Recol- 
lect, at  Chicago  (1681),  12 

Menard,  Pierre,  58 

Mercy  Hospital,  158-160 

Merritt,  Mary  A.,  135 

Miami  Indians,  at  Chicago,  16, 
23 

Michigan  and  Illinois  Canal, 
92,  93 

Milwaukee,  baptisms  by  Father 
B.  Schaefer,  98 

Miranda,  J.  B.,  45 

Monselle,  Charles,  46 

Montabrique,  Father  A.,  de, 
198 

Month,  The,  215 


232 


INDEX 


Montigny,  Father,  letter  of,  19 ; 

at  Chicago   (1699),  22 
Mueller,  C.  SS.  R.,  Father  J., 

196 

Mulligan,  Col.  J.  A.,  185-188 
Murphy,  Mrs.  John,  33,  34 

N 

Nativity  parish,  200 
Nadeau,  Monique,  97 
Notre  Dame  parish,  198 

O 

Oakley,  S.  J.,  Father  Maurice, 
177 

O'Brien,  Sister  Mary  Agatha, 
117,  129,  157 

Ogden,  William  B.,  134 

O'Meara,  Father  Timothy,  bap- 
tizes Kobert  Kinzie,  26;  first 
baptism  in  Chicago,  102 ; 
Brute  and,  103 ;  suspended, 
106 

Onahan,  W.  J.,  181,  182 

O'Neill,  S.  J.,  Father  Andrew, 
205 

O'Neill,  S.  J.,  Brother  Thomas, 
205 

O 'Began,  Bishop,  early  career, 
167;  appointed  Bishop  of 
Chicago,  168 ;  organizes  new 
parishes,  190;  invites  Jesuits 
to  Chicago,  169-175;  Holy 
Family  (Jesuit)  parish  and 
church,  175-178;  resigns  see, 
179;  death,  179 

Orphan  Asylum,  154-157 

Orphan  Asylum,  German,  208 

Ostlangenberg,  Father  Gaspar 
H.,  120 

Ouilmette,  Antoine,  Chicago  pi- 
oneer, 25,  28,  39,  98 

Ouilmette,  Elizabeth,  98 


Ouilmette  (Wilmot),  Louis,  89, 

98 

Ouilmette  (Wilmette)  Marie,  97 
Owen,    Thomas    J.    V.,    Indian 

agent    at    Chicago,    45,    49; 

Chicago  treaty  of  1833,  57; 

Indian  land-grant  to  church, 

59 


Parishes,  Chicago: 
Annunciation,  199 
Holy  Family,  169-178 
Holy   Name,    124,    125,   146, 

170 
Immaculate  Conception,  191, 

192 

Nativity,  200 
Notre  Dame,  198 
Sacred  Heart,  198 
St.  Anne's,  199 
St.  Boniface's,  197 
St.  Bridget's,  189 
St.  Columbkille's,  191 
St.  Francis  of  Assissi  's,  147, 

148,  201 

St.  Henry's,  188 
St.  James,  190 
St.  Jarlath's,  201 
St.  John's,  191 
St.  John  Nepomucene,  201 
St.  Joseph's,    123,    146,    188, 

193-194 
St.  Louis,  150 
St.  Mary's,  49-51,  54,  61,  65, 

82,  106,  107,  109,  125,  127, 

128,  149 

St.  Michael's,  147,  195-196 
St.  Paul's,  201 
St.  Patrick's,  119,  149,  1SS 
St.  Patrick's     (South    Chica- 
go), 190 


INDEX 


233 


St.  Peter's,  123,  148 

St.  Stanislaus  (Polish),  200 

St.  Stanislaus  (Sacred  Heart), 

198 

St.  Stephen's,  201 
St.  Thomas,  190 
St.  Thomas      the     Apostle 's, 

199 

St.  Weneeslaus,  197 
Parish  Schools: 

Holy  Family,  203,  205 
Holy    Name,    152,    153,    202, 

203,  205 

Immaculate  Conception,  205 
St.  Boniface's,  205 
St.Columbkille's,  205 
St.  Francis  of  Assissi's,  153, 

205 

St.  James,  203 
St.  Joseph's,  153,  203 
St.  Louis,  153 

St.  Mary's,  151,  152,  202,  203 
St.  Michael's,  153,  203 
St.  Patrick's,   153,   188,   202, 

203 

St.  Peter's,  153 
St.  Stanislaus    (Sac.    Heart), 

205 

Peltier,  Jacquet,  97 

Peltier,  Jean  Baptiste,  26 

Perry,  N.  P.,  26 

Pettel   (Fettle),  Louis,  25 

Pettelle,  Domitille,  27 

Pinet,    S.  J.,    Father    Francois, 

at    Chicago     (1696-1700,    12- 

20;    with  the   Tamaroa,   20; 

death,  21 

Plathe,  Father  G.  W.,  149,  19.3 
Platte  Purchase,  87 
Pointe  de  Saible,  Jean  Baptiste, 

24 

Pointe  de  Saible,  Susanne,  26 
Pokegan,  Potawatomi  chief,  36 


Poor  Handmaids  of  Christ,  209 

Portage  des  Sioux,  Mo.,  Bap- 
tismal register  of,  27 

Porter,  Rev.  Jeremiah,  Pres- 
byterian clergyman,  52,  54, 
83 

Potawatomi  Indians,  occupy 
site  of  Chicago,  23 ;  Catholic 
chiefs,  40;  treaty  of  1833, 
56 ;  grant  land  for  church 
purposes,  60;  migrate  to 
West,  86-89 

Pothier,  Jean,  45 

Poulx,  J.  B.,  45 


Quarter,  Bishop,  early  career, 
108;  arrives  in  Chicago,  109; 
ordains  first  priests,  111 ; 
University  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Lake,  112;  University  incor- 
porated, 113 ;  Catholic  Bishop 
of  Chicago  constituted  "cor- 
poration sole ' ',  113 ;  new 
University  building  opened, 
114 ;  invites  Sisters  of  Mercy 
to  Chicago,  117 ;  makes  Vir- 
gin Mother  patroness  of  di- 
ocese, 117;  organizes  new 
parishes,  St.  Patrick's,  St. 
Patrick's,  St.  Joseph's,  St. 
Peter's,  Holy  Name,  119-124; 
extracts  from  Diary,  126- 
130;  death,  130-132 

Quarter,  Father  Walter,  109, 
112,  119,  137,  138 

Quebec,  Chicago  in  diocese  of, 
28 

R 

Railroads,  note,  144 
Redemptorists,  147,  196 
Rabbie,  J.  B.,  45 


234 


INDEX 


Reformatory  and  Industrial 
School,  207 

Keform  and  Industrial  School 
(Bridgeport),  209 

Eeligious  of  the  Sacred  .Heart, 
see  Sisterhoods 

Resurrectionists,  200 

Reze  (Reze,  Rese),  Bishop, 
visits  Chicago  (1833),  59 

Richard,  Father  Gabriel,  at 
Chicago  (1821),  29-31 

Riesch,  C.  SS.  R.,  Father 
George,  196 

Riordan,  Msgr.  Daniel  J.,  note, 
116 

Riordan,  Father  P.  W.  Rear- 
don,  117,  183,  222 

Robinson,  Alexander,  Potawa- 
tomi  chief,  40,  41;  daugh- 
ters of,  note,  42 ;  signs  peti- 
tion for  priest,  45;  supports 
Chicago  treaty  of  1833,  57 

Roles,  Father  Joseph  P.,  183, 
215,  222 

Tiosarist's  Companion,  129 

Rosati,  Bishop,  jurisdiction  in 
Chicago,  42,  43;  sends  St. 
Cyr  to  Chicago,  47;  letters 
from  Father  St.  Cyr  to,  49, 
53,  57,  61,  C6  ,67,  82,  84,  86, 
90,  91,  93,  94 

Rothensteiner,  Father  John, 
quoted,  note,  42 

Roux,  Father  Benedict,  77 


St.  Cosme,  Father,  at  Chicago, 
15;  letter  of,  15-18 

St.  Cyr,  Father  J.  M.  I.,  ap- 
pointed to  Chicago  mission, 
47 ;  early  career,  48 ;  arrives 
in  Chicago,  48 ;  letters  to 


Bishop  Rosati,  49,  53,  57,  61, 
(36,  67,  82,  84,  86,  90,  91,  93, 
94 ;  first  Mass  in  new  church, 
61;  goes  to  St.  Louis  (1834), 
62;  first  Mass  in  Chicago, 
63 ;  Chicago  Catholics  peti- 
tion to  retain,  95;  baptismal 
records,  97,  death,  99 

St.  Joseph's  hospital,  208 

St.  Ours,  Antoine,  46 

Sacred  Heart  parish,  198 

Saeger,  Father  Anthony,  195 

Saver,  Dill,  45 

Scammon,  J.  Young,   134 

Schaeffer,  Father,  193 

Schaeffer,  Father  Bernard,  90, 
92,  94,  96,  98,  100,  101,  102 

Schulak,   S.  J.,    Father   F.    X., 
197 

Schneer,  O.  S.  B.,  Father  Lean- 
der,  194 

Schuyler,  C.  S.  C.,  Father,  194 

Schwartz,  Abram,  98 

Sheahan,  James  W.,  177 

Shortis,  C.  S.  C.,  Father  Rich- 
ard, 212 

Sisterhoods : 

Benedictine  Sisters,  203,  210 
Franciscan  Sisters,  198,  205 
Poor    Handmaids    of    Christ, 

209 

Religious  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  174,  202,  203,  206, 

210 
Sisters  of  Charity,  B.  V.  M., 

203-205 

Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Vin- 
cent,  203,  205,  208,  209 
Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd, 

206-207 

Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.,  216 
Sisters  of  Loretto,  203 
Sisters    of    Mercy,    117-H9, 


INDEX 


235 


125,  129,  137,  153,  154, 
156,  157,  158-160,  174,  202, 
203,  206,  209 

Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  203 

Sisters  of  St.  Dominic  (Sin- 
sinawa)  205,  206 

Sisters  of  Mercy,  Holy  Cross, 
Loretto,  Notre  Dame,  St. 
Benedict,  St.  Dominic,  St. 
Francis,  St.  Joseph,  see  Sis- 
terhoods 

"Skokie",  14 

Smarius,  S.  J.,  Father  Cor- 
nelius, 181 

Smith,  J.  Lisle,  134 

Smyth,  Bishop,  181 

Sorin,  C.  S.  C.,  Eev.  Edward 
Sorin,  211 

Springfield,  111.,  proposed  by 
St.  Cyr  as  headquarters  for 
missionary,  67 

St.  Louis,  party  of  Father  Mon- 
tigny  at,  18;  Father  Pinet  at 
Eiver  Des  Peres  (St.  Louis), 
21 ;  cathedral  registers,  27 ; 
Chicago  in  ecclesiastical  jur- 
isdiction of,  42,  43 

St.  Mary's  (Kansas),  Chicago 
Potawatomi  at,  88 

St.  Mary's,  St.  Patrick's,  etc., 
parishes,  etc.,  see,  Parishes, 
Chicago 

St.  Palais,  Father  Maurice  de, 
90,  106,  107,  110,  111,  127, 
128,  177 


T 


Tabeaux,  J.  B.,  46 

Taylor,   Augustine   D.,   42,   61, 

65,  66,  91,  123,  155 
Taylor,  Anson,  42,  46,  48,  59 
Taylor,  Charles,  45 


Thelen,    Brother    Bonaventura, 

207 

Tippecanoe  Hall,  lo'J 
Tonty,  at  Chicago   (1681),  12 
Tschieder,  S.  J.,  Father  Peter, 

164 
Truyens,  S.  J.,  Father  Charles, 

175 
Tusch,  C.  S.  C.,  Father  Andrew, 

194 

V 

Van  der  Laar,  Father  Martin, 
191 

Van  de  Velde,  Bishop,  early 
early  career,  138,  139;  ap- 
pointed Bishop  of  Chicago, 
140,  141;  installation,  142; 
poverty  of  diocese,  143 ;  ex- 
tracts from  Diary,  144 ;  paro- 
chial schools,  150-154 ;  founds 
Orphan  Asylum,  154-157 ; 
Mercy  Hospital,  157-160 ; 
transferred  to  Natchez,  161- 
164;  death,  note,  165 

Van  Quickenborne,  Father  C. 
F.,  69,  baptizes  Potawatomi 
from  Chicago,  142 

Vaughn,  Dill,  45 

Vaughn,  James,  45 

Venn,  Father  C.,  197 

Vieau,  Josette,  see  Juneau, 
Josette  Vieau 

Vincennes,  diocese  of,  erected, 
71 ;  scarcity  of  priests,  78,  81 

W 

Waldron,  Father  John,  183,  191 
Walsh,  Patrick,  45,  98 
Ward,  Father  Patrick,  191 
Watkins,  Thomas,  83 


236 


INDEX 


Weikamp,  Father  John  B.,  147, 
148 

Welsh,  John,  97 

Whistler,  Gwenthalin  (Gwenth- 
lean),  26,  98 

Whistler,  Capt.  John,  estab- 
lishes Fort  Dearborn,  26; 
dies  in  St.  Louis,  43 

Whistler,  Johne,  44,  97 

Whistler,  Major  William,  26, 
44,  46 


Wilmot   (Ouilmette),  Louis,  99 
Wimette     (Ouilmette),     Marie, 

97 
Wisehmeyer,  Henry,  207 


Zimmer,  O.  S.  B.,  Abbot  Boni- 
face, 194 

Zimmer,  C.  SS.  E.,  Father  P., 
196 

Zoegel,  Father  Joseph,  195 


UNIVERSITY  OF  LUNOI«-UJ|IANA 


30112046522014 


